Beijing ( CNN ) -- You can see them each night on street corners or public squares of Beijing , hundreds of Chinese couples ballroom dancing to music blaring from makeshift speakers . Some have this down to a fine art , twirling and sweeping across the pavement . This is entertainment for the armies of migrant workers who have flocked to China 's cities over the past 20 years on the promise of a better life . For so many of them the dream has come true . China 's breakneck economic growth -- inspired by former leader Deng Xiaoping 's call `` to get rich is glorious '' -- has turned one time peasant farmers into factory hands , construction workers , sales people and shop assistants . Some have indeed become rich starting companies or riding the property boom . For the Communist Party , the country 's unelected supreme leaders , this is the source of their legitimacy and authority : keep the engines of growth turning , and the people busy and prosperous . It has worked , so far . But strains are appearing . The gap between rich and poor is widening and the economy itself is weakening . The growth figures for the latest quarter are at 7.4 % , the slowest in three years . China 's GDP growth slides to 7.4 % . As the party prepares for its leadership change in November , it is also faced with reforming an economy that can longer rely on cheap labor , high exports and big investment . It needs to switch to domestic consumption - no easy task , according to some analysts . `` It will take generation to get to remodel that growth formula . It is easier said than done , to make sure that people feel that they are safe to spend , '' says Victor Chu , chairman of First Eastern Investment Group . Chu has faith in China 's leaders -- they have more tools in their box than the rest of the world , he says . Other big thinkers in the world of business agree . Faced with the potential of a `` hard landing '' of plummeting growth , many foresee a `` soft landing '' -- a controlled slowdown leading to more quality growth . `` The last 10 years developed a very good track record of economic management , '' says John Quelch , dean of the China Europe International Business School . `` Obviously there are global challenges affecting the China growth path . China needs to rebalance towards domestic consumption , but I 'm pretty confident that the quality of the management in Beijing , financially speaking , is very very good . '' As the world 's second biggest economy -- and many economists predict that one day , not far away , China is destined to overtake the United States at number one -- what happens here is now felt around the world . It 's become a hot button issue during the U.S election campaign . Candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have used the presidential debates to try to `` out-tough '' each other on China . China is accused of not playing fair , keeping its currency low to gain an export advantage and taking American jobs . If elected , Governor Romney says he would declare China a `` currency manipulator '' on the first day of his presidency . President Obama says he 's lodged successful cases against China at the World Trade Organization . U.S. debate : Tough talk on China . China 's Foreign Ministry has hit back , saying that U.S politicians need to treat China fairly and that trade should be a win-win . Sir Martin Sorrell , CEO of advertising giant WPP , does a lot of business in China . He says the rest of the world ca n't blame Beijing for its ills . `` We have mismanaged our economy , not the Chinese , '' Sorrell says . `` Look back in the history , we 've been here before , early 19th Century , China and India were 40-50 % of worldwide GNP . They are going be again ... the only question is when . '' But economists point out China 's leaders should be under no illusions about the task ahead . The gap between rich and poor is widening , and poor Chinese complain that the opportunities are drying up . Then there are questions about social cohesion , the rule of law and human rights . In many ways China 's incoming rulers are in a race against time . Reform the economy before the people turn against the Party . `` The whole legitimacy of this one party rule depends on the ability to deliver . And in the last 30 years , hundreds of million have been brought above the poverty line . So going forward is going to be challenging , but the only way they can survive is to deliver , '' warns Victor Chu . Tonight the ball room dancers will be back on the streets , but the question remains what will become of them if the music stops .
China 's explosive growth is slowing as it expands at lowest level in three years . Growth is the source of legitimacy and power for China 's Communist Party . There is a growing prosperity divide as Beijing tries to move economy toward domestic consumption . Chen Chu : ` ` The whole success of this one party system depends on the ability to deliver ''