China's structural reforms important for Asia-Pacific growth: Survey

BEIJING: China's structural reforms and demand-led growth is "the most important factor" for future growth prospects of the Asia Pacific region, a survey has said, ahead of APEC's key summit here.

A report of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) annual survey said that the top risk to growth in the Asia Pacific region is the economic slowdown in China, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

The results reflect the growing importance of the Chinese economy in the rest of the region, for most of whom, China is their largest trading partner, the report said.

The two-day APEC meeting hosted by China will begin here on Nov 10 with the presence of 21 world leaders including US President Barack Obama, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe among others.

China's GDP expanded 7.3 per cent from a year ago in the third quarter compared with 7.5 per cent in the second quarter and 7.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year, official data showed.

China's growth continues to slow down, reflecting policy efforts to re-balance the economy as the country works to implement reforms supporting more sustainable growth, according to the World Bank's China Economic Update released last month.

The factors that can boost the Chinese economy are further liberalisation and improvements to the rule of law.

The failure to implement structural reforms and lack of leadership in the region are the greatest risks to growth, the report said.

The survey was conducted among 600 government officials, businessmen, academic researchers and the press in Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies.

"APEC provides a venue that gives economies the confidence to implement reforms by knowing that everyone else are also on the same track," said Don Campbell, a co-chair of PECC.