File photo shows morning view of the Lujiazui area in Pudong of Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Ren Long)
WASHINGTON, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Despite a weakening global expansion and increased downside risks, finance officials worldwide remain optimistic about the Chinese economy.
PROMPT MEASURES ENSURE ECONOMIC RESILIENCE
In its April 2019 World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised up the 2019 growth projection for China to 6.3 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from its previous estimation in January.
The upward revision showed the institution's recognition of China's efforts to stabilize economic growth and its confidence in the growth outlook of the world's second largest economy, IMF officials said.
Chinese authorities quickly responded to the slowdown last year by using a combination of monetary policy tools and fiscal stimulus, and signs of recovery have emerged, Gita Gopinath, economic counselor and director of the IMF's research department, told Xinhua.
According to IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, the IMF anticipates a "regular anticipated slight moderation (of China's growth) year after year."
"As we have observed it, and certainly, a shift towards quality growth," said Lagarde here at the 2019 Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.
Calling the recent stimulus by the Chinese authorities "welcomed" and "the right approach," the IMF chief said it goes together with those fundamental policies of "keeping the credit mechanisms and flow under control in order to rein in excessive investment."
Changyong Rhee, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, echoed Lagarde by saying that China's massive tax cuts and fee reduction could boost domestic consumption and promote China's economic transformation.
Besides the IMF, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., HSBC and Citibank have also recently upgraded China's growth forecast for 2019.
CHINA REMAINS GLOBAL GROWTH ENGINE
The positive outlook for China's economy came as the IMF lowered its global growth forecast for 2019 to 3.3 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from its January estimation.
Despite the gradual slowdown, China is expected to account for more than 30 percent of global growth this year, Rhee said.
During this year's Spring Meetings, finance officials worldwide underscored how China's economic growth has been contributing to the global one.
Zhang Tao, IMF's deputy managing director, said the IMF believes that the Chinese economy could continue to drive global economic growth as one of its major engines, adding that the projected 6.3 percent growth rate for China is the highest among those of the five major economies in the world.
Apart from IMF officials, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi were among those finance officials who underscored the effect of China's stimulus measures on the global economic recovery.
"I expect the global growth to increase in the second half of the year. An accommodative monetary environment will be maintained, and we will begin to see the effectiveness of a gradual stimulus package in China," said Kuroda.
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