China's economic growth is vital to the world economy and that the Chinese economy has the potential to achieve its goal of 8 percent growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, commented in response to questions from Xinhua News Agency on the evening of February 2.

Strauss-Kahn said that the IMF has predicted a 6.7 percent growth for China this year and that the country’s target of 8 percent growth will be "very challenging" but not impossible, considering that the country has scope for even more fiscal stimulus. He emphasized that, in the past, China has shown that it was always able to do much more than expected.

On Asian economies, Strauss-Kahn said that since the growth of many Asian economies relies heavily on exports, it is unlikely for Asian economies to regain the lost momentum when other economies are in a difficult position. But as European and American economies are expected to start to show signs of recovery by the beginning of the next year, the pace of economic recovery in Asia will also pick up, said Strauss-Kahn. Once the US and European economies start to rebound, he added, some Asian economies "may recover very fast."

By People's Daily Online