Beijing, China (BBN)- With advanced economies and emerging countries divided over how to balance the gains and the costs of international issues such as the Doha Round negotiations, China is well-placed to become an agent of convergence, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday.
 
Mr. Lamy also said few could possibly disagree that China’s economic performance since 1979 has been miraculous.  “A poor and inward-looking economy with a per capita income of 180 USD has been transformed into a middle-income country with a GDP per capita of around six thousand dollars. Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. No other country has achieved an average of 10 per cent growth over such a long period of 30 years. The world has clearly benefited from China’s growth, its affluence, its strength and of course, it is feeling its increasing global impact.” 
 
On the macroeconomic front, China faces some imbalances, including over-investment, over-production capacity in some sectors, and over-supply of liquidity.  
He also said high unemployment rates threaten social stability. So for a long time, China will need high growth rates to create sufficient jobs to ensure social harmony. “With its not-well-developed private sector, the main responsibility of creating new jobs lies on the shoulders of the government.”
 
China’s remarkable achievements and future challenges, combined with the size of the country, have understandably focused China’s leaders’ attention on domestic issues. Ensuring political stability and such formidable transformation and reforms has been priority number one for the government. But today, in China like elsewhere, the borders between domestic and international issues are cracking, he added. 
 
BBN/SSR/AD-26Mar13-10:55 am (BST)