Official: Chinese economy in good shape

Published: Nov. 3, 2008 at 12:15 AM
Chinese get off work in Beijing

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.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
UPI NewsTrack Sports (34 min)
COL BKB: Michigan St. 88, Oakland 57
Falling leaves bedevil N.Y.C. subways
Colt McCoy wins three top awards
Kelly hired to coach at Notre Dame
New York allows all to get H1N1 vaccine
Rangers sign pitcher Rich Harden
fark
Photoshop this man with his dogs
Florida must pay cosmetologist $150/day to cover up tattoos of neo-Nazi while he stands trial for...
Woman charged in grits attack. Unknown hominy laws broken
If you stole the 2400 different ecstasy pills a dutchman painstakingly collected over two decades,...
Slow news day in Seattle upgraded from "It's farking cold outside" to "Bovine trapped in frozen...
Tips on how to get that holiday vacation you have been asking for