Official: Chinese economy in good shape

BEIJING, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- A top Chinese official says the country's economy will maintain its relatively rapid growth despite the current global financial turmoil.

"The fundamentals of China's economy remain unchanged despite the changing world economic environment," Ma Jiantang, the new director of the National Bureau of Statistics, told the state-run Xinhua news agency. "We should be confident about the country's economic outlook."

Ma said the economic fundamentals were supported by the world's fastest economic growth rate, the government's success with commodity price controls, rising foreign exchange reserves and good employment rates.

China's gross domestic product grew by 9.9 percent in the first three quarters of this year, down 2.3 percentage points down from the same period last year.

Ma blamed the slowdown on the global financial crisis, the world economic downturn and catastrophic natural disasters, but added the country has rich resource reserves and great market potential.

Ma, who holds a doctorate degree in economics, took over as NBS director last month.