China will do well in fighting global financial crisis, former U.S. Defense Secretary and Chairman of Cohen Group William S. Cohen said.

"China has the opportunity to continue to recover fast and set standards for other nations to follow," Cohen told Xinhuanet, the online news portal of the Xinhua News Agency at the sidelines of the ongoing China Development Forum 2009 in Beijing Sunday.

When asked to comment on World Bank's forecast of China's 2009 economic growth rate at 6.5 percent from 7.5 percent, Cohen said: "We can never underestimate what China is capable of. Whether 6.5 percent or around 8 percent, I think most countries would be much in favour of having something somewhere close to that, so I think China is going to do quite well."

During the academic summit at the current forum Saturday, Cohen stressed that "cooperation is a must" to curb trade protectionism. Otherwise, the trade prospect would be very grim for China and the United States.

Cohen was U.S. Defense Secretary from 1997 to 2001. He launched Cohen Group after leaving the Pentagon.

Source:Xinhua