China's continued strong economic growth is a major positive
force in Asia, said Jemal-ud-din Kassum, a World Bank (WB) vice
president in charge of the East Asia and Pacific Region,
Sunday.
As a huge engine of growth and import demand, China offers more
opportunities for other economies in the region following its
accession to the World Trade Organization, Kassum said at the 2003
annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which opened
Sunday at Boao of southernmost China's Hainan Province.
In the first five months of this year, exports to the Chinese
mainland and Hong Kong from the rest of East Asia grew by about
one-third and contributed about one-third of their overall export
growth, he noted.
China's imports from and its trade deficits with the rest of
East Asia have also been soaring. According to Kassum, the Chinese
mainland's combined trade deficit with the Republic of Korea,
Singapore and Taiwan Province jumped from around US$36 billion in
mid 2002 to US$53 billion in mid 2003, which almost offset its
trade surplus with the United States.
China's trade balances with Japan and South East Asia are also
showing growing deficits, he noted.
While the global economy is picking up, capital flows are
returning to East Asia's bond and equity markets, providing
abundant liquidity. Foreign exchange reserves by eight leading East
Asian economies other than Japan have more than doubled -- from
US$400 billion in January 1997 to almost US$900 billion today.
However, he pointed out, if the growth and stability of the past
is to be maintained, progress must be made in the improvement of
investment environment, financial and corporate restructuring,
anti-corruption efforts, government governance and investment to
infrastructure.
He said, the BFA Secretariat and the WB have agreed to
collaborate on a joint program of economic studies on regional
cooperation in Asia. They have also agreed to build networks of
expertise around the world to conduct such studies and to use them
to produce practical recommendations for policy makers in Asia.
"We look forward to a productive relationship together, to
capture the benefits of global trade and financial market
liberalization through regional cooperation in Asia," he said,
adding that this is especially important because the setback at the
Cancun trade talks -- with the danger of protectionist interests
lurking in many parts of the world -- threatens to cause damage to
the global trading system.
Regional progress will help ensure that Asia keeps moving in the
direction of global competitiveness and higher productivity, Kassum
said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2003)