Over the weekend, the BBC asked the Director of TMCD, Professor Xiaolan Fu, to comment on the outlook for China's economy after the recent National People's Congress. Professor Fu noted that the government is taking anti-corruption very seriously. In addition, the environment has become a serious issue for what is now the world's second-largest economy. As Professor Fu explained, there is now "wide public awareness and also pressure from the public for the government to take into account environmental protection," and that the government is taking this seriously. "A slower growth rate is now the new normal for the economy," Fu explained, as China's economy falls in line with other economies of its size.