Applauding

Jia Kang said China was the first among the world's major economies to achieve recovery and Chinese response to the financial crisis had won applause.

Kuhn, also a long-time China observer, described China's response as rapid, risky but successful. He is the author of The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin -- China's best-selling book in 2005.

"China's rapid response to the financial crisis ... has proven to be extremely successful," he said.

In one sense, Kuhn said, "China took higher risks, since error would have had greater impact as well."

But China had little choice since China was more dependent on economic growth than almost any other country because unemployment could lead to social stress and potential instability, he said.

"China's rapid recovery and remarkable growth has gone a long way to re-instill confidence in worldwide markets," said Kuhn.

Kevin Harris, chief economist of the U.S.-based Informa Global Markets, praised China for its role in both the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the global financial crisis this time.

"In both periods, having a large economy stand as an exception to economic decline elsewhere has probably been a bigger help that is generally recognized," Harris told Xinhua.

"In each case, China's decisions have been a benefit to economies other than China's," he added.

Kuhn also sang highly of China's leadership in pursuing economic development over the last 10 years.

Kuhn said the Chinese economy could have suffered disastrous consequences in the financial crisis "if China's leaders had listened to the prescriptions of Western economists over the past decade, who insisted that China entirely open its financial markets and allow its currency to be wholly convertible."

In addition, Kuhn also valued China's efforts to help small and medium-sized companies, the vast majority of which are privately owned, to tide over the financial crisis.