China's economic, financial progress applauded by IMF, WB officials

BEIJING - China has made great progress in economic growth and financial development, which reflects the government's sound and effective management, officials with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have said.

The officials paid a visit to China to undertake a fresh round of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), which was kicked off during the visit and slated to run from 2016-2017, the People's Bank of China said in a statement Wednesday.

The FSAP was established in 1999 and plays an important role in IMF activities in financial surveillance and monitoring of the international monetary system.

China is one of the so-called "systemically important" economies that have agreed to mandatory assessments at least once every five years.

The IMF last conducted an FSAP review of China in November 2011, where it found China had made remarkable progress in transiting toward a more commercially-oriented and financially sound system while suggesting further reforms to promote financial stability and sustainable growth.

At a meeting with IMF and World Bank officials, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China Fan Yifei said the Chinese economy and financial system was stable thanks to the government's macro regulation, risk control efforts and institutional reforms.

China will be open and transparent in accepting the FSAP review, Fan said.

Meanwhile, the FSAP team members promised to assess China's financial system objectively and give valuable recommendations.