By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Oct. 19: The Chinese President Xi Jinping recently defended much of his country’s weakening economy and shifted the blame to the underperforming global market although admitting there is indeed “concerns” and that China is “working hard to address them”.
“As an economy closely linked to international markets, China cannot stay immune to the lackluster performance of the global economy. We do have concerns about the Chinese economy, and we are working hard to address them,” Xi told Reuters.
The Chinese economy posted a figure of 6.9% growth in the Gross Domestic Product for its third quarter (July-September), its weakest since 2009 attesting to the ongoing financial woes that surfaced this summer in the tumble of the Chinese stock market followed by the devaluation of its currency. The figure although just short of Beijing’s official target has been criticized heavily for its reliability and authenticity by observers around the world.
Experts and Economists suggest that China’s attempt to shift from a heavily manufacturing power to a service based market has not been up to the mark as anticipated by the government. Sheng Laiyun, a spokesman for the Chinese statistics agency told reporters, “In order to restructure, the economy will face some downward pressure”. The magical number of 10% growth in 2010 to last year’s 7.4% and the continuously dipping figure of the Dragon’s economy have raised much frenzy in the world market.
Xi who will touch down in London for his state visit today has portrayed a defensive stance assuring that China will overcome the slump and even come up stronger and build a “visionary and strategic choice” with Britain who has left no stones unturned to appease the visiting delegations and cash in on the alliance.
“Money, money, money. That’s what this is about. Where is morality?” the Dalai Lama said, after British Prime Minister David Cameron turned away from meeting him recently. The 2012 meeting between the two had the Chinese angered and even demanded an apology for his move to meet the Tibetan leader.
