UN official sees Chinese economic growth 'stable'

BEIJING - President of the United Nations General Assembly Vuk Jeremic said Friday that the Chinese economy is one of the strongest performers worldwide and offers optimism to the world economy.

Jeremic, president of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly, made the comments in a joint interview with Chinese media in Beijing.

He said one of the most significant reference points to the world economy is China's economic situation. If China is going in the right direction, the rest of the world will be going in a good direction economically. If China is having difficulties, everybody is going to have difficulties.

In the first half of the year, China's economic growth slowed to 7.6 percent.

"The growth, which some people question that whether this is good enough or strong enough... I don't really think that there are too many countries in the world that can have 7.6-percent growth, a very stable one," he said.

"I understand that of the 7.6-percent growth rate, 7.5 percent can be attributed to domestic demand, so we are talking about really 'solid' growth, perhaps not 10 percent like China used to have," he added.

Jeremic praised China for showing the strength and resilience in the face of international challenges.

As to the global political and economic landscape, he believed the UN remained key to resolve the challenges in the 21st century by engaging everyone equally in the General Assembly. Although important organizations like the G20 are emerging, without the UN and UN General Assembly, there is no chance to resolve challenges in a satisfactory manner, he said.

The role of the emerging markets and developing countries will become stronger and the most significant element in this new geopolitical puzzle and the new landscape, as part of the wider global development, he noted.

The Millennium Development Goals will expire in 2015 and they need to be replaced by a new vision for world development for the next 20 to 30 years, he said.

World leaders at the Rio+20 conference in June 2012, agreed for the General Assembly to draft a development agenda for the 21st century. Over the next 24 months, the assembly will need to complete negotiations, achieve a consensus so the world will develop in a sustainable way, not exacerbate social differences and tensions in a country and between countries, and make the gap between the rich and poor smaller.

Jeremic said China plays a critical role in this process and looks forward to working with the country, hoping it will continue to play a constructive role in the UN.

Jeremic will be replaced by John William Ashe, ambassador to the UN for Antigua and Barbuda, for the 68th session in September.