AP Moeller-Maersk anticipates that China will become a consumer economy no longer driven by export growth within a decade, reports Bloomberg after an interview with group CEO Nils Andersen.
"In about 10 years I think we may reach a level where there's more of a balance between container goods going into China and leaving China," Mr Andersen said.
"We're investing in our China set-up as we're building up a large organisation there so we can be ready to help customers who want to export to China," he said in a telephone interview from the company's Copenhagen head office.
The world's second-largest economy is targeting more sustainable growth as it prepares for a shift in leadership, with Vice President Xi Jinping set to replace President Hu Jintao as head of China's Communist Party, said the report.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has already cut China's economic growth target as the government encourages consumer demand and weans the nation off its reliance on exports.
"It will be very, very positive for us - and probably also for the rest of the world - if China succeeds in this development," Mr Andersen said. "We can already register the trend as we're seeing rising Chinese imports. So it's already happening."
The value of China's exports rose 11.6 per cent from a year earlier to US$176 billion, while the value of imports gained 2.4 per cent to $144 billion, according to trade statistics released November 10 by the China Customs, the Shipping Gazette informs.
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