China's reforms, growth beneficial to world: Experts

BEIJING - China's ongoing reforms will benefit not only itself but the world, but the key lies in the implementation of the set reform agenda, experts said here Tuesday.

The world can benefit from globalization and cooperation, not fragmentation, said David Lipton, first deputy managing director of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF).

No leader can solve global challenges alone, as all countries are now closely connected, said Lipton, adding that the world can benefit from globalization, interconnectedness and global trade deals.

"Growth [has been] too low for too long and benefiting too few," Lipton said at a seminar in Beijing entitled "The Shifting Global Economic and Political Landscape: Integration or Fragmentation?"

China first needs to take care of itself and press ahead with reforms, and stay multilateral to promote international cooperation and listen to its partners, Lipton said.

Global economic growth has been anemic with debt accumulating in recent years, and the interconnectedness among different economies is strengthening despite deglobalization and fragmentation, said Zhang Yuyan, director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

"China is a strong supporter of free trade," Zhang stressed.

The Chinese economy has entered a new stage after decades of rapid growth and changing demographics, and the reasonable economic growth range for the Chinese economy will be between 6.2 percent and 6.7 percent in the coming years, said Cai Fang, vice president of the CASS.

"If the world is witnessing economic growth between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent in the coming years, China will contribute about a quarter to a third of global growth annually," Cai predicted.

If China's economy is expanding too fast with stimulus policies, it will lead to a list of problems including industrial overcapacity, zombie companies and asset bubbles, Cai stressed.