He believed the recent establishments of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and creation of the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission would play a positive role in the country's economic reform, especially in the reform of the sectors of state-owned enterprises and public finance.

Meanwhile, the IMF chief expressed the willingness that the IMF would offer help for China to push forward the economic reform process.

"The IMF can help China in its reform efforts through our expertise and the experience drawn from our work with member countries", Kohler said.

He noted that China's strong growth, averaging about 9 percent per year over the last decade, has been an important factor supporting Asia's growth.

"Rising imports of goods to satisfy domestic demand have made China an increasingly important export destination for many of its trading partners. The expansion of China's trade within Asia has also contributed to rising specialization of production in the region, allowing countries to better exploit their comparative advantage," said the managing director.

China's growing presence in world markets has "clearly increased competition for some producers in other countries, but it also has benefited consumers worldwide," he noted.

Kohler said China's transformation toward a market-based economy and its integration into the global economy have been "dramatic economic developments" for itself as well.

"The process of gradual market-oriented liberalization that China has followed has served the country well. And China's recent steps in line with its commitments under the World Trade Organization accession agreement have further contributed to the rapid expansion of trade and real incomes," he said.

Kohler called for advanced countries to tackle their deep-seated structural problems as part of the cooperative efforts to ensure a gradual and orderly correction of large global current account imbalances. He said greater exchange rate flexibility in Asia should also be part of a gradual process of reducing global current account imbalances.

(Edited by China.org.cn from Xinhua September 1, 2003)