The global economic recovery remains slow as the impact of European and U.S. debt crises continues to spread. At a time when many European countries and the United States are still mired in the financial crisis, China's stable economic growth will undoubtedly become a stabilizer of the world economy. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said recently that without the impetus provided by China, the global economic picture would be even bleaker.

A prominent role

The collapse of Lehman Brothers and other U.S. investment banks in 2008 sparked a global financial tsunami. Three years later, sovereign debt problems escalated in many European countries, most notably Greece, and the United States. These disasters plunged the world into an unprecedented recession. Immediately after the financial crisis, the Chinese Government made a rapid response. It adopted a stimulus package worth 4 trillion yuan ($636.4 billion), which helped stabilize and reinvigorate its economy. China has recorded an average annual GDP growth of more than 9 percent in the past three years. It has offered much-needed support to the world economy with its demand and confidence, serving as an engine driving the recovery of other economies.

"In contrast to U.S. indecisiveness, China was the first country to come up with a package solution to deal with the financial crisis," said Zhao Xijun, Deputy Dean of the School of Finance of Renmin University of China. He told People's Daily Overseas Edition that China's response was reassuring to the world. Moreover, Asia did not suffer severely from the financial crisis because many Asian countries ran a trade surplus with China. China's robust economic performance fueled growth in Asia and helped lessen the impact of the financial crisis on the continent. Following the crisis, China's trade relations with other Asian countries and Australia became even closer.

China's economic takeoff has caught the world's attention, Lagarde said, adding the world is surprised that China breaks growth records every year. Over the past three decades, China has created 370 million job opportunities and lifted 500 million out of poverty. After the outbreak of the financial crisis, China was the first among the Group of 20 major economies to launch economic stimulus policies. China's leadership in international institutions also testifies to its economic achievements, Lagarde said.

Soaring imports

As it gets increasingly integrated into the world, China has become a major driving force behind the stable growth of the world economy. Statistics of the Ministry of Commerce show China has imported $750 billion in goods annually on average since its accession to the WTO in 2001, tantamount to creating more than 14 million jobs for its trade partners. Foreign companies in China have remitted $261.7 billion in profits out of the country, with an average annual growth of 30 percent. While employing nearly 800,000 local staff members, overseas Chinese companies pay more than $10 billion in taxes to foreign governments every year.

For all China's contributions to global economic recovery, some Western politicians accuse China of causing global trade imbalances. That's because they are unaware of the fact that in addition to being a major exporter, China is one of the world's top importers, said Commerce Minister Chen Deming. In 2009, when the financial crisis was at its height, China's imports increased 2.8 percent over the previous year, making China the only major economy that posted an import increase. While global trade plummeted 12.9 percent, China's imports exceeded $1 trillion.

"China's imports will rank highest worldwide in the foreseeable future," Chen said. China also looks poised to become the world's largest domestic market. Not only does it provide other countries with high-quality and inexpensive goods, it also consumes leading brands and high-end goods, even luxuries, from around the world. Had it not been for this new equilibrium, it would be more difficult to cope with the financial crisis.

A boon for the world

Along with China's rapid growth, the contribution of its strong economic performance to the global economy has become evident. World Bank data show China contributed to 14.5 percent of global GDP growth in 2009, as opposed to 4.6 percent in 2003. It has become the world's second largest economy and the biggest contributor to global economic growth. A report from the multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs said China contributed to more than 20 percent of global economic growth from 2000 to 2009, higher than the United States.

Given the lingering aftermath of the global financial crisis and persistent sovereign debt woes in a number of Western economies, there remain risks of a new crisis and recession. Against this backdrop, China's stable economic growth is particularly important. China cannot develop in isolation from the world, nor can the world develop without China, said Li Wei, President of the Development Research Center of the State Council. In the final analysis, the blame for the financial crisis and the lasting devastation it has caused should be put on long-term structural imbalances, he said. China and the rest of the world now face common challenges as they undertake the pressing and arduous task of economic restructuring, he added.

"If progress is made in economic restructuring and development pattern shift, China's economic growth will become more stable," Zhao said. "It will also help speed up global economic growth and improve its quality." China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) cut the country's economic growth target to 7.5 percent, still higher than European countries and the United States. The IMF has projected that the global economic growth rates this year stand at 3.3 percent, while the United States and Europe at 1.8 percent and -0.5 percent respectively. In light of this, China's role in propelling global economic growth is recognizable.