G20财长会议

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors had gathered prior to the I-M-F and World Bank annual meetings in Washington D-C. Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan had co-chaired the event. The G20 met on topics such as global economic conditions and tax reforms.

China's economic performance has been highlighted. Governor Zhou says China's economy is still in good shape, despite reforms to move away from growth driven primarily by investments and construction.

He says authorities have been able to keep inflation under control, while still leaving enough room for the economy to grow.

"China's economic growth continues to be in a reasonable range, prices remain stable, the job market is doing well and consumption continues to rise."
"As the economy enters a 'new normal' of middle to high speed growth, the structure and the quality of China's economic growth will continue to improve and new drivers will emerge. So the long-term picture remains positive," Governor Zhou said.

The International Monetary Fund also remains optimistic with China's future. It's latest World Economic Outlook says the Chinese economy will grow by 6-point-6  percent this year.

The I-M-F says China has made significant progress in shifting towards a more service-oriented economy. Yet the positive outlook comes with a note of caution.

The IMF has kept the same projection for China's economic growth for 2016 and 2017. What does this message mean to China and to the world?

"We are optimistic for the near term, but over the medium term, we are less optimistic. There can be resource misallocation if growth is supported by propping up sectors where there is excess capacity," IMF research director Maurice Obstfeld said.

The I-M-F says China should prepare for debt risks. Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said China's government debt is under control.

"China's central government debt is very healthy. The central government debt-to-GDP ratio is 18 percent. Now there is faster expansion of local government debt. The central government has taken disciplinary actions regarding local government debt,"  Lou said.

The finance minister also notes uncertainty and risks in the global economy. He says increased geopolitical risk and terrorist attacks could have significant repercussions on the global economy and international financial markets.

"Financial markets always overreact. It is inevitable that the financial markets will magnify the effects of uncertainties. Secondly, we should see that to attribute the current political risks to factors including elections is a superficial understanding. The real reasons behind them are anti-globalization, populism and these types of issues. This has made some statesmen choose political correctness as their campaign slogans," Lou said.

Ministers and governors also discussed taxation, beneficial ownership and anti-money laundering.