Beijing: China will avoid a hard landing despite worries over a slowdown in the world`s number two economy and a flagging real-estate market, the country`s Premier Li Keqiang said in a speech in Germany on Saturday.
The comments, reported by state news agency Xinhua, echoed earlier ones he made in London in June.
"China`s economy will not suffer a `hard landing` like some people fear, but will bring a positive impact to the global economy," Li said during a speech in the city of Hamburg.
China`s third quarter growth is likely to be its weakest growth in more than five years as a property downturn weighed on demand, according to a Reuters poll of 20 economists released on Friday.
According to the poll, the economy may have expanded 7.3 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the weakest reading since 6.6 percent growth in the first quarter of 2009.
Premier Li said that staying power will be more important to China`s economy than speed of growth.
"Economic development is not a sprint, but a long-distance race without end. You need a certain amount of speed, but even more important is endurance and stamina," he said.
Ma Jun, chief economist at the People`s Bank of China, also said on Saturday that the chance of China facing a hard landing was "very small". The Chinese central bank economist was talking at the IMF and World Bank fall meetings in Washington.
