Chinese economy not to take hard landing: finance minister

WASHINGTON - China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said here Thursday that his country's economy will not take a hard landing and a slower economic growth rate is a necessary phenomenon from economic restructuring.

"Despite the slowdown of China's economic growth rate, the structural reform is paying off," Lou told the press after a session on reform and sustainable development on the second day of the two-day China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED).

He said China's growth performance and quality had been enhanced and the country has the confidence to deal with the current challenges and promote the economic sustainable growth.

"The contribution of consumption to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth has increased, the proportion of service sector to GDP has also enhanced, the ratio of current account surplus of GDP has dropped, employment situation is good, and CPI (Consumer Price Index) is not high," said Lou.

In the first quarter the growth rate was 7.7 percent, and the rate in the first half of this year will be slightly lower than 7.7 percent, he added. There is no doubt that China can achieve this year's growth target of 7.5 percent.

With regard to the exit of US quantitative easing policy, Lou said the US economy has maintained 40 consecutive months of recovery, so China understood and supported US consideration of tapering. China has not fully liberalized its capital account, so the impact on China will not be serious, he added.

China and the United States have been holding the annual S&ED talks since 2009 when US President Barack Obama came to office, as a major channel of communication to enhance mutual trust, boost cooperation and properly handle differences.