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BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Officials of major international financial institutions are upbeat about the Chinese economy, while they said concrete action is needed to address rising uncertainties.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) updated its 2016 economic outlook earlier this week, keeping its forecast for China's growth unchanged at 6.6 percent in 2016 and 6.4 percent in 2017, while downgrading projection for the whole of developing Asia.
China's economic expansion is "driven by strong domestic consumption, solid wage growth, urban job creation and public infrastructure investment," according to an ADB statement.
Internet businesses, new energy and robotics represent growth potential of the world's second largest economy, said ADB deputy chief economist Zhuang Juzhong.
The World Bank is also optimistic, predicting 6.7-percent growth for 2016 and a 6.5-percent growth for 2017.
"We are very consistent with our forecast system. We still believe a hard-landing is not likely," said Bert Hofman, World Bank country director for China, Korea and Mongolia.
The new economy is actually doing very well and it is very dynamic, said Hofman, noting that China's annual growth target of above 6.5 percent for the 2016-2020 period is achievable with sufficient reforms and good micro-policies.
"Adjusting your policy in light of new facts (and) circumstances, is wise and China has been doing well on that," said the World Bank official.
China has accomplished much in a number of key areas, including liberalizing and opening the economy and financial system reform, said David Lipton, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
With waning foreign trade, economic rebalancing means transitioning to a domestic-consumption oriented economy, according to him.
"We have already seen the service sector growing more rapidly than the industrial sector. That's an indication of these changes," he said.
China has attained steady growth this year with GDP expanding 6.7 percent year on year in the first three quarters. The country looks set to deliver its annual target of 6.5-7 percent for 2016.
Economic growth remained within "a reasonable range" this year, marked by better quality and higher efficiency, according to a statement released after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee last week.
RISING UNCERTAINTIES
The three specialists said China's external environment is still quite uncertain, citing the faltering global recovery, interest rate hikes in the U.S. and increasing protectionism and nationalism.
"Overall, I want to say the external uncertainties that China faces have risen. We face increasing uncertainty, so we have to prepare for that," said Hofman.
Lipton commented on China's debt, saying that central and local government debt is on the rise -- though not yet a cause for concern -- and corporate debt is very high with some held by entities without any prospect of ever turning a profit.
The IMF official suggested a huge overhaul of unprofitable state-owned enterprises and reduced production of goods with excess supply in the global economy.
"It is right for China to focus on the supply-side of the economy, boosting productivity and efficiency of workers, and providing workers with better equipment and technology," Lipton said.
Zhuang voiced concern about corporate debt, but he said the risks were generally under control as the central government has already begun to address it.
