What the experts say

Oliver Barron, head of the China office of London-based investment bank NSBO.

2016 GDP forecast: 6.7 percent

SOE reform, although necessary, could negatively impact growth.

Tightening US monetary policy could suck money out of China and create currency instability.

Paul Mason, author of Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future and also economics editor of UK's Channel 4 News

2016 GDP forecast: Below 7 percent

The year will be a test as to whether the world can survive without a US stimulus.

No doom-laden scenario for China because the economy is build on tangible assets such as roads and high-speed rail.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist for Capital Economics

2016 GDP forecast: About 7 percent

Government should look to lower growth target to allow reforms to be implemented.

Emerging markets, particularly commodity producers, are major risk for the global economy.

George Magnus, associate at the Oxford University China Centre

2016 GDP forecast: 6.5 percent

The government has some interesting proposals, particularly in SOE reform, but the challenge will be institutional barriers.

Still too much emphasis on growth in overall strategy.

Liu Zhiqin, senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China, Beijing

2016 GDP forecast: 6.5 or 6.6 percent

Government's growth strategy will not deliver in the short term.

This year will be big test for the government being able to meet 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) goal of escaping middle-income trap.

Zhu Ning, deputy dean of the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance

2016 GDP forecast: Between 6.5 and 7 percent

The government will continue to struggle with balancing growth objectives and reform.

Emerging markets' slump will affect China's export markets.

Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics, based in Hong Kong

2016 GDP forecast: 6.3 percent

Consumption will continue to grow faster than overall economy but will also slow down in 2016.

Risk factors include emerging markets and financial markets responding badly to Fed rate rise.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/01/2016 page7)