"Since this year, the Chinese economy has shown a relatively obvious trend of structural optimization and adjustment, and new growth drivers are taking the place of old ones. The excessive capacity of traditional industries has gradually been solved and new growth points have emerged."

VISHAL BALI, managing director of Nielsen China. China's Consumer Confidence Index soared to a high of 114 points in the third quarter of the year, up by 2 points on a quarterly basis, buoyed by improved job prospects and surging consumption power, a new study said on Nov 22.

"The country's financial sector is now operating in a stable manner, which provides excellent conditions for further opening up the industry. ... Market liberalization will help to meet foreign capital demands and attract more foreign capital to China in the long term."

LIAN PING, chief economist with Bank of Communications, one of the biggest lenders in China.

"We'll see the rise of around 10 emerging cities (in China) that will be pioneering in digital-driven development."

WANG DI, vice-president of LinkedIn China. Five second-tier cities - Chengdu, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan and Xi'an - are representative of the Chinese mainland in terms of their rapidly growing skills base in the digital economy, according to a report released on Nov 22 based on user data by LinkedIn, the US-based networking website.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 11/24/2017 page24)