An employee scans a quick response (QR) code displayed on Alipay app at a store in Hong Kong. According to a report released by PayPal on Oct 25, the total transaction value of mobile payment platforms in China reached $5.5 trillion in 2016, much higher than other Asia-Pacific countries. [Photo/VCG]

General Secretary Xi Jinping, in a report he delivered at the opening session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China two weeks ago, said China's economy has been transitioning from a phase of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development, which he said is pivotal for transforming the country's growth model.

John L. Thornton, chairman of the board at The Brookings Institution, a US-based think tank, said that China's pursuit of higher-quality growth in the new era is good not only for China but also for the world.

"China was going very fast, and the emphasis was on the rate of growth. In the new era, China will grow more slowly, but the emphasis would be on the quality of growth," Thornton said, adding that this is a good sign of economic maturity.

Mike McNamara, CEO of Flex, a US-based technological manufacturer, said that China promotes the role of innovation in economic growth, which will help to further drive the nation's development.

"China has developed rapidly over the years, but over the next five years, we would expect it to develop even more rapidly on the back of more and more innovation," he said.

"We expect China to change from a manufacturing engine to more of a technology innovation engine. One of the things that I would expect of China is there would be more leadership in terms of ideas, products, services and technologies that originate in China," McNamara added.

The report delivered by Xi said that China will be built into "a country of innovators".

"Innovation is the primary force driving development; it is the strategic underpinning for building a modernized economy," the report said, providing a blueprint for development.

Christopher Galvin, chairman of Harrison Street Real Estate Capital in the United States, said, "China is leading in a whole variety of digital technologies... and it's the one country in the world that has significant opportunities for business."