Editor's Note: At a recent symposium about the new normal of the Chinese economy, held by the China Institute of Reform and Development, economists shared their views on how China should respond to the emerging challenges. Below are some excerpts:

Time to remove barriers

Many say the slowdown of Chinese GDP growth is the beginning of a new normal. Actually, a slowdown is not a problem, but the Chinese economy has some deficiencies that must be solved for it to be a healthy new normal.

The consumption rate is too low - not only incomparable to that in developed countries such as the United States and Germany, but also lower than it is in developing countries such as India and Brazil.

The problem gets worse because the contribution rate of consumption to the economy has dropped from 55.1 percent in 2012 to 48.5 percent as of September this year.

Another problem lies in structure. China's service industries, especially those related to human development, lag behind even those in many other developing economies. By September the service sector accounted for 46.7 percent of the country's GDP, historically high for China but still lower than developed economies.

Besides, China's economy relies heavily on heavy investment, cheap labor and land, while the human creative potential lags far behind. In the latest world competitiveness report released by the World Economic Forum, China ranks 28 in terms of competitiveness; but it drops to 83 when it comes to science and technology related to human development.