The effect of China’s economic slowdown on the global economy has been a concern stateside, but what’s going on there is a natural progression as the country adjusts to changing demographics and its economy gets more service oriented.

That was the message from Penelope Prime, professor of international business and director of the China Research Center at Georgia State University, during Furniture/Today’s recent Finance Symposium. She has more than 40 years’ experience studying and working in Chinese culture and Chinese economic dynamics.

According to the World Bank, China’s 2014 GDP of $18 billion purchasing power parity surpassed the United States’ $17.4 billion PPP to make it the world’s largest economy.

A “maxing out” of export trade, an aging workforce in the wake of a one-child-per-family policy and decreasing savings and investment have slowed China’s economy, Prime said, but there’s no immediate cause for alarm.

“Quarterly growth has fallen since 2010, but it’s a gentle landing,” she said. “This gentle slowing is a good sign for an economy in transition from high growth to consumption.”

(Source: Furniture Today)