A senior World Bank (WB) economist said China's economic growth has remained respectable amid a difficult global environment, but it is still too early to say if the economy has really bottomed out, said Friday's China Daily.

Louis Kuijs, senior economist, WB, said given the subdued prospects for the world economy, more data is needed to prove that China's current economic recovery is for real.

China's economic growth hit a 10-year low of 6.1 percent in the first quarter, while the export sector, the key engine for economic growth, has not shown much signs of stabilization after slumping by 20.5 percent in the first four months. These could shave off two or even more percentage points of China's GDP growth, said Kuijs.

He said China's growth is hardly different from the world, given that the country's economy is more integrated into the world economy than many other major emerging markets.

He noted fiscal stimulus has been essential for keeping China's economy going. Government influenced spending accounts for one-third of the country's total domestic demand.

He estimated the country's export growth in volume terms in the coming 10 years is likely to fall to about half of what it has been in the previous 10 years.

The World Bank will release its quarterly economic update on China next Thursday.

Source:Xinhua