At Davos, fear of economic hard landing for China, and Japan enmity
Foreign Minister Wang Yi vows reforms will positively impact 'the whole world', but for some there's too much talk and too little action
The risk of a hard landing for China's economy and the threat of military conflict with Japan were among the top concerns for experts gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Days after China's economy - the world's second-largest - registered its worst rate of growth for more than a decade, politicians and economists at the annual gathering of the global elite said the near-term outlook was bleak.
Li Daokui, a leading economist and former central bank official, said: "This year and next year, there will be a struggle, a struggle to maintain a growth rate of 7-7.5 per cent, which is the minimum to create the 7.5 million jobs every year China needs."
On January 20, Beijing said the economy had grown at 7.7 per cent in 2013, the worst rate since 1999.
"The risk of a hard landing in China has not been dispelled yet," added Nouriel Roubini, the economist who earned the nickname "Dr Doom" for predicting the collapse of the US housing market and global recession in 2008. He cited concerns over rising inequalities in China and the "vast challenge" facing authorities in Beijing as they bid to push through deep-seated economic reform.
President Xi Jinping has committed to transforming China's growth model to one where private consumption plays the leading role, rather than huge and often wasteful state investment.
In a speech in the Swiss ski resort, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said these reforms would " have an extensive and positive impact on the whole world" and would be "more sweeping, thorough and difficult than ever before." As the reforms took hold "enormous demand in China will be unleashed wave by wave", keeping growth at a fast pace for a long time, he said, adding: "A China committed to reform, enjoying growing prosperity, will bring a lot to the world."