China’s economy is slowing down. Both official statistics and people’s daily experience appear to tell the same story. Disappointing retail sales figures for November spooked investors, deepening anxiety about the economy.

However, closer scrutiny reveals that the structure of Chinese output is actually improving, with consumption growing as a share of gross domestic product, while investment and exports fall. The trends show that China is on the right path, rebalancing its economy away from high-speed growth to high-quality development.

Recent research from the OECD also suggests that knowledge-intensive service sectors are growing faster than labour-intensive ones. Investment in science, technology and innovation has grown steadily, with China overtaking Japan and the EU in 2014 to become the world’s second-largest spender on research and development.