China is smarter than US at handling economic booms: billionaire

BEIJING - China is smarter than the United States as China began to cope with its economic booms earlier than the latter did in the same situation, billionaire Charlie Munger, the vice chairman of the US multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, has said.

Munger told CNN in an interview that China "steps on a boom in the middle of it instead of waiting for the big bust", the CNN website reported on Wednesday. "Of course, I admire that. In that one respect, they are wiser than we are."

"Considering the problems China had I would argue their system has worked better for them than ours is for us," he said.

"I don't think we should assume that every other nation in the world, no matter what the problems are, should have our type of government," Munger said. "I think that's pompous and self-centered. Ours is right for us but maybe theirs is right for them."

Munger also spoke highly of the rapid growth in China that has lifted millions of people out of poverty.

"It is one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of the human race, what the Chinese have accomplished in the last 30 years," Munger said.