PARIS -- Jose Angel Gurria, secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that he is "very confident about the future of China," expressing strong support for its structural reforms.
China is going to do better by cruising steadily at about 7 percent GDPgrowth rather than when it was doing 11 percent "when you are growing at breakneck speed, you can break your neck," Gurria noted.
THE NEW NORMAL
It is obvious China cannot sustain double-digit growth for too long because it will create distortion and bubbles in the economy, he stated, adding, "in fact, China has been extraordinary that it has been doing that for 25-30 years."
"If you are rowing against the tide, which is the case as we are in a recession, it is harder to generate growth," Gurria said.
China's capacity in pushing forward economic reforms should not be doubted, as it has savings, investments, institutions, talent and "a very solid financial base," permitting it to launch necessary structural reforms, he said.
"We are confident that China can move in this direction. China can organize the process of not only economic change, but also social transformation and in the process take care of the environment," Gurria said.
With China's economy transforming from a model based on investment and export to one based on knowledge, service and domestic demand, Chinese will have more capacity to spend and their standard of living will be higher, he said.
It should be noted that OECD has affirmed China's progress in structural reform several times this year.
The OECD Economic Outlook published early June said, in China "orderly adjustment towards a new normal rate of growth is underway." Another report titled "Going for Growth" published in March said "progress is visible in all key priority areas" when it came to reforms in China.
THE CHINA STORY
The cooperation between OECD and China has been diversified, much more complex and interactive over the 20 years since the establishment of official ties in 1995, Gurria said.
"There's much greater level of trust and understanding. Now we have found better ways of defining China's priorities so that we can be more useful for China in their policy choices," he added.
"We do not tell China what to do with China -- the Chinese know what to do with China," he explained, adding the OECD stood ready to provide good and bad lessons of other countries in areas such as agriculture, education and science.
"Of course, we do not expect the Chinese to share our conclusions, at least not completely, but we hope that they find it useful," Gurria said.
OECD hopes to better document Chinese experiences of achieving extremely fast development and organizing the transformation of its economic model, which "is very unique because of the circumstances and the size of China." The plan is to share these lessons with other developing countries, the OECD chief said, stating it would be a "win-win" deal.
Gurria said he looked forward to the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiangon July 1.
OECD was formed in 1961 and includes 34 member countries today. OECD organizes dialogues and studies every year to provide suggestions for better governmental policies.
