Top leader vows to meet growth target (3)

He was quoted by French newspaper Le Monde last month as saying that China has weathered the global financial crisis better than any other major country.

Addressing China's economic situation, Petit said an economic slowdown in the country may have a negative impact on the global economy.

But in the long run, China will welcome the shift from an investment- and export-driven economy to a model favoring consumption. "This is a welcome trend," he said, adding that this is the right direction for the new leadership to take.

Zhu Haibin, chief China economist with JPMorgan, expects "the economy's sequential growth momentum to stabilize and improve modestly in the second half".

He added, "Not surprisingly, Premier Li Keqiang has reiterated maintaining the 7.5 percent growth target for 2013 — with labor market conditions being the key area of concern."

Zhu said the service sector is in better shape, but the manufacturing sector is suffering because of overcapacity.

While GDP growth slowed to 7.6 percent in the first half, growth in tertiary-sector GDP, which mainly reflects service activities, improved modestly to 8.3 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Possible fine-tuning by policymakers in the second half may see the central bank cut the reserve requirement ratio to supplement market liquidity if capital outflows increase, Zhu said.

"But a more important task for the central government is to improve financial reforms," Zhu added.

Tuo Yannan in Brussels contributed to this story.

We Recommend:
A forward thrust in Sino-US relations	New media tells'Chinese foreign affairs story'	Xi, Obama meet for first summit
No tolerance for rogue behavior on dispute	Poverty elimination remains important task	China is victim of hacking attacks