习副主席：中国经济不会硬着陆

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said Friday that the Chinese economy would experience stable growth and avoid a hard landing in 2012, dispelling a scenario economists fear may upset the global economy.

2012 will be a crucial year in driving the 12th five-year plan. China's economy will maintain fast and stable pace of growth and definitely there will be no so called hard landing.

The Chinese leader-in-waiting, turning to courting American companies hungry for a slice of his nation's growth, said the international community has nothing to fear from China's prosperity.

A prosperous and stable China will not be a threat to any country, rather it will be a force for world peace and a force for global economic development.

Xi is almost certain to succeed Hu Jintao as Chinese president in just over a year. His US tour has featured commercial deals and reassuring talks intended to blunt American ire about the trade gap between the two countries.

Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.