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BEIJING, May 26-- Many economists believe that despite downward pressure and uncertainties, China's economic outlook remains bright. To assess economic performance, growth is not the only barometer, quality, structure, momentum and room for growth should also be take into consideration, according to an article carried by the People's Daily on Friday, under the byline of Guo Tongxin from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). "A slowdown of some economic indicators such as trade growth has intensified downward pressure for China when the economy is already facing growing uncertainties due to deflation, financial supervision and real estate regulation risks," said Jiang Chao with Haitong Securities. A number of Chinese economists believe that the economy stabilizing is an "irreversible" trend and that the country is capable of maintaining medium-high growth for a long time to come as many economic indicators have been positive this year. China's gross domestic product grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter of this year, 0.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year and 0.1 percentage point higher than last quarter. It is the seventh consecutive quarter for China to keep economic growth between 6.7 and 6.9 percent, a good example of its economic stability. "The quality of growth was also optimized in terms of employment, consumer prices and personal income," Guo said. Some 4.65 million new jobs were created in China in the first four months of the year, 220,000 higher than the same period last year, according to NBS spokesperson Xing Zhihong, who described China's employment situation as "good and stable." | 
