China's economic development is good both for the Chinese people
and for the world, the European Investment Bank President Philippe
Maystadt has told Xinhua.
"China kept its growth in recent years and its economic
development is impressive," Maystadt, an economic expert who was
Belgium's minister of finance for ten years, said in a recent
email.
China's economic development is "a good thing not only for the
Chinese people whose living standard has been improved gradually,
but also for the world economy in which China has become one of the
most important partners in global trade and finance," he said.
He also suggested that the appreciation of Chinese RMB should be
done gradually, rather than abruptly.
"I would only like to underline the risk of brutal adjustments.
If the value of a currency needs adjustments, it is preferable that
they are done very gradually," he said.
Commenting on China's stock market, Maystadt was cautious about
the recent volatility, but confident of the future.
It would be "dangerous" to make any prediction in the stock
market, he said.
"It was seen recently that the Shanghai Stock Exchange plunged
nearly nine percent in one day," he said, "but it seems to me that
the Chinese stock market will be on rise in the long term, and the
proportion of foreign capital would increase little by
little."
Maystadt had two suggestions for those foreign companies who want
to enter the Chinese market.
One is to adopt a long-term strategy for investment in China.
The other is to find a Chinese partner from the very beginning.
Cooperating with Chinese companies "will avoid many mistakes,"
he said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2007)
