President Xi says China's economy faces risks but 'not that scary'

Beijing, Nov 9: Shrugging off fears over China's economic slowdown as "not that scary" despite "risks", President Xi Jinping today called for efforts to create and fulfil an Asia-Pacific dream with infrastructure development and investment facilitation for which China is bankrolling billions of dollars.

"Indeed there are risks (in the Chinese economy), but not that scary," Xi told the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit here allaying fears over the slowdown of Chinese economy which continued to slide down from double digit growth rates.

The APEC CEO Summit, being held ahead of the leaders of the 21 APEC member states that starts tomorrow attracted over 1,500 businesspeople from Asia Pacific and other regions, official media here said.

Top world leaders like US President Barack Obama, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are scheduled to attend the APEC leaders summit.

China's GDP expanded 7.3 per cent from a year ago in the third quarter, compared with 7.5 per cent in the second quarter and 7.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year, official data showed.

According to forecasts, China may miss the official GDP target of 7.5 per cent this year. China's growth continues to slowdown, reflecting policy efforts to rebalance the economy as the country works to implement reforms supporting more sustainable growth, according to the World Bank's China Economic Update.

Addressing worries that the Chinese economy may further decline in growth rate, Xi said "China's economic growth has become more stable and been driven by more diverse forces".

"Resilience best equips the Chinese economy against risks. And given the strategies and policy options at our disposal, we have the confidence and capability to cope with potential risks," he said.

Xi said China has adopted innovative ideas and approaches in macroeconomic management, and is advancing the new type of industrialisation, IT application, urbanisation and agricultural modernisation in a coordinated way.

These measures will help relieve the "growing pains," he said, adding that the Chinese economy is driven more by domestic consumer demands, thus steering clear of external risks from over reliance on export. Xi yesterday announced a USD-40 billion fund to build the 21st century Silk Road route.

Together with the formation of the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), with authorised capital of USD 100 billion and subscribed capital of USD 50 billion, could play a major role in improving infrastructure connectivity in the fast developing Asian region.

PTI