China's economy facing 'downward pressure': state think tank

BEIJING -- China's economy is facing "downward pressure" as Beijing pushes for economic reforms amid persistent worries about global economic recovery, a senior official at China's top state think-tank said Saturday.

Liu Shijin, vice president of China's State Council Development Research Center, however, voiced optimism that the Chinese economy can weather such downward risks, citing what he calls "conditions" set by China's leadership "for stabilizing its economy."

Liu made the remarks at a global conference on the Chinese and global economies, held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

"Given the statistics published in the first two months of this year, the Chinese economy has been growing generally in a stable manner," Liu said.

"There is still a downward pressure on the Chinese economy going forward," Liu said. "But, I would hope that you would not bother yourself about such downward pressure because the Chinese economy has conditions ready for stabilizing itself."

A surprise 18 percent drop in China's exports last month, as well as slowing growth in fixed-asset investment, retail sales, and factory production in the first two months of this year, has heightened worries that China may fail to meet its growth target this year of around 7.5 percent.

Worries over the Chinese economy have hit stock markets in emerging markets, including South Korea, which has China as its No. 1 trading partner.

Amid a weakening outlook for the Chinese economy, China's yuan currency fell beyond 6.20 to the U.S. dollar this week for the first time since April last year.

(Yonhap)