The slowdown should come as no surprise; all developing economies experience something similar as they grow and mature. Nonetheless, the speed and degree of change have caught the authorities off guard, and have stoked official fears that growth will fall short of the rate needed for the country to modernize as planned.
但中国的未来问题现在已是无可规避。官方经济增长数据已放缓至7%附近；但许多人认为真实数字不到5%。减速并不令人奇怪；所有发展中经济体在增长和成熟的过程中都要经历类似的过程。尽管如此，变化的速度和幅度令当局猝不及防，并让官员担心增长速度跟不上中国按计划实现现代化的需要。