CCTV9英语新闻：政协成员：企业让人痛苦的调整（在线收听）

China's economy has seen decades of rapid growth. But now, the government is pushing structural transformation, even at the cost of growth. To get a better understanding of the overall performance of Chinese enterprises under what's called the New Normal Economy, and the strategic thinking behind the urgency for change, CCTV's Han Bin interviewed CPPCC member Hou Yunchun, who is also the Chairman of the China Enterprises Evaluation Association.

Q1: Figures from the State Bureau of Statistics show a marked drop in China ’s manufacturing sector. From your experience and research, what does this trend mean under the New Normal?

"I think the growing drop of China ’s manufacturing sector is likely to be further intensified in the future. The main external reason is the global economic slowdown. International trade has been greatly reduced, along with exports. Yet the key reason is domestic overcapacity in production over the years. It will be a painful adjustment for the enterprises," Hou said.

Q2: What influence could it have on the country’s economy?

"The slowdown has affected the entire economy, not just manufacturing. What’s noticeable is the sharp decline in business profits. For example, profits of industrial enterprises above a designated size increased by only 3.3 percent last year, and the figure has kept dropping over the past months. National fiscal revenue has dropped to a single-digit growth rate. All these indicate China is in a painful period of transformation and structural change," Hou said.

Q3: Facing the New Normal, what can enterprises do to not just survive, but thrive?

"Structural adjustment is a creative destruction yet with new opportunities. Resources and those enterprises with low output values should be transferred to those enterprises with more competitiveness and output efficiency. What the government needs to do is to help smooth transfer of mergers and acquisitions, make sure the closure of companies ends well, grant necessary training to unemployed workers, and deal with corporate credit and debt. The enterprises should fully prepare for the changes. They should reevaluate their problems. Some need to find new partners, and others need to exit from the market," Hou said.