China's economic reforms, regional initiatives bring global benefits

BRUSSELS - China's ongoing economic reforms and initiatives on regional development will benefit both itself and the rest of the world, top European economists have said.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday that the Chinese economy, the world's second largest, is not heading for a hard landing.

During the economic transformation and upgrading, "the only risk for China was stagnation, but this has been overcome," Daniel Gros, director of the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies, told Xinhua in an interview.

China's economic reforms benefit the world in two ways, according to Gros, a former economic adviser to the European Commission and then the European Parliament.

"First, everybody benefits if China grows more strongly, especially if growth is re-balanced from investment and exports towards consumption," he told Xinhua.

"Second, making the market the main determinant of economic decisions also facilitates trade," Gros continued.

Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), a world-economy think tank based in Brussels, said economic reforms that open up for more competition and innovation are key to China's development.

"The country could add a new dimension to its global economic leadership by fastening economic reforms that can reverse the country's growth trend," the Swedish economist said.

Investment initiatives

In recent years, China has been eyeing economic upgrading through coordinating its financial and monetary policies and through long-term investment in such areas as infrastructure.

China has also proposed or promoted a host of initiatives, including the Silk Road Economic Zone, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the BRICS Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, as part of efforts to fund global public investment and pursue win-win results.

Commenting on these initiatives, Gros said a distinction should be made between internal investment drive and the financing of investment abroad.