World Bank removes critical section from China report
The Washington-based institution removed a section urging the country to accelerate reform of its state-dominated financial sector, saying the section had not been adequately reviewed.
The World Bank has removed a critical portion from a recently released report on China's economy, saying the section had not been adequately reviewed.
On Wednesday, the Washington-based institution released its China Economic Update report in Beijing that included a section urging the country to accelerate reform of its state-dominated financial sector.
In blunt language, the World Bank warned that failure to address the issue could end "three decades of stellar performance" for the world's second-largest economy.
"Wasteful investment, over-indebtedness, and a weakly regulated shadow-banking system" had to be addressed for China's broader reform agenda to succeed, it said.
The organisation, however, said in an update to the report posted on its website on Friday that the section had been removed.
"Section three on the financial sector that was previously included in this report was removed because it had not gone through the World Bank's usual internal review and clearance procedures," it said.