CRI听力:China Can Deal with Economic Challenges: Official

U.S. billionaire investor George Soros recently said China's economy was heading for a hard landing as last year's economic growth registered the slowest annual expansion in a quarter of a century.

Commenting on the concern, Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, says a hard landing is unlikely.

"The hard landing forecast has been repeatedly mentioned following the 2008 global financial crisis. This is unlikely to happen for China's economy. Just look at the positive factors - sound fundamentals, enormous market demand, rising production quality and more sophisticated government regulation. China's steady growth and bright economic outlook will show that opinion cannot hold water."

Xu Shaoshi also noted that although growth has slowed, it is still within a reasonable range.

"Last year, China's GDP growth rate was 6.9 percent, but it was in line with the official target of around 7 percent. Globally, China's economic growth is still at the top. According to data released by the International Monetary Fund, the Chinese economy contributed over 25 percent to the global economic growth and it is still an important driver for global economic growth."

The head of the NDRC also points out that the slowdown has not made China less attractive for foreign investors.

"Foreign investment has not decreased. Official data shows foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, which excludes investment in the financial sector, rose 6.4 percent year on year to over 126 billion U.S. dollars last year. The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development has listed China as a favored market by multinationals from 2015 to 2017."

As for the employment situation, Xu Shaoshi describes it as better than expected.

"During the past year, 13.12 million new jobs were created in cities and towns as against the goal of 10 million. The unemployment rates either got by survey or shown by registration were not high, so it can be said the employment situation is quite stable."

At the same time, Xu Shaoshi admits the job condition in provinces such as Shanxi, Heilongjiang and Hebei will be hurt by the country's attempts to reduce industrial overcapacity.

But he says that central and local governments will have policies to deal with increased unemployment.

For CRI, this is Luo Wen.