(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-13 20:29

BOAO - The US economic slowdown could drag down China's gross domestic product (GDP) by 1 percent, Fan Gang, a Monetary Policy Committee member of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said on Sunday.

The US subprime mortgage crisis affected the Chinese economy mainly through trade and investment, Fan said at the 2008 annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, which concluded in China's southern Hainan Province Sunday.

Historical figures revealed a 1 percentage point slide in the US economy would lead to 5 to 6 percentage points decline in China's exports to the United States.

China's slower exports, however, were largely due to the government's export policy shift, not the credit crunch, Fan said.

Weak dollar and continuous US interest rate cuts had raised people's expectation of a stronger yuan, and triggered a hefty inflow of overseas funds to China.

The subprime mortgage product itself was not to blame, he noted, pointing to the poor risk management as the culprit.

Established in 2001, the Boao Forum for Asia has become a major platform for discussion and debate on economic development in Asia. The theme of this year's annual conference of the forum is "Green Asia: moving towards win-win through changes".