China used a gathering of Asia's financial elite here this weekend to calm jitters over the feared impact of state-authored measures to chill its overheating economy.
So far, it has gotten the thumbs up.
Addressing fellow ministers and delegates to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday, Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing (金人慶) said China's current growth rates of over 9 percent provided a "fundamental guarantee" for the country to reduce poverty.
On Saturday, Jin met with his counterparts from South Korea, Japan as well as Southeast Asia and assured them that Beijing was fully capable of guiding the economy to a "soft landing" and that fears authorities would apply the brakes too abruptly were unfounded.
"The Chinese government is confident it has the ability to realize a soft landing for the economy and to realize also smooth and sustained growth of the economy," Jin said in a news conference after the meeting.
China's GDP expanded 9.7 percent in the first quarter this year, compared with 9.1 percent for the whole of last year.
"This momentum is expected to be kept," he said.
Jin said sectors such as communications, energy and agriculture still needed investment and that the economy did not need to slow across the board.
Government action has been focused on curbing over-investment in the steel industry, building materials and construction.
There had been initial results such as a big drop in the price of steel, but Jin said the full impact would take some time to be felt.
East Asian finance ministers said they were satisfied with Jin's assurances and believe the Chinese authorities have full control of the situation.
"The Chinese minister had given a detailed account about the situation in China and I agree that Chinese authorities are recognizing the issue very properly and are addressing the issue with strong leadership," Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki told reporters.
South Korean minister of finance Lee Hun-jai said he was hopeful of a gradual slowdown for the Chinese economy, which accounts for 20 percent of South Korean exports.
RSS