Sunny outlook expected for Chinese economy: PwC

LONDON - The whole world economy is very mixed still with a lot of storm, but Chinese economy has pretty sunny outlook comparing with other countries, said PricewaterhouseCoopers UK (PwC) Chief Economist John Hawksworth in an interview with Xinhua.

Hawksworth, an economist specializing in global macroeconomics and public policy issues, used a weather chart to describe the world economic outlook for 2013, saying "the whole world is very mix, still has a lot of storm, and sunshine may creep out in the US, and a little bit of sunshine close to Australia and Brazil."

2013 will be the first time since reliable records began when the emerging and developing economies will be bigger than the advanced economies.

Hawksworth predicted that China, the second biggest economy in the world, would achieve 7.8 percent economic growth in 2013, quite similar to last year. In longer term, China's growth is estimated at around 7 to 8 percent for the rest of the decade.

"Certainly China has great contribution to the world economy," and it is estimated to contribute almost a quarter to world growth in 2013, he said.

At the same time, he noticed China's important influence on multi markets such as equity and commodity markets, particularly on the prices which are very sensitive to the Chinese demand.

"If the Chinese economy picks up, all prices are pushed up, such as metal commodities and other materials. China is increasingly critical to the world economy.

As chief economist of PwC in Britain, Hawksworth was not optimistic as that about China. He said Britain is "pretty cloudy", but its prospects is expected to make gradual improvement in one or two years while a little bit sunshine might pick out behind cloud.

He pointed out despite recent more encouraging signs, Britain's economy remained relatively fragile and businesses must remain agile, review their strategy to adapt to a slow growth environment in the country, and respond to evolving global economic conditions.

"Lower inflation should ease the squeeze on households, but consumer spending growth will take time to recover, particularly as food and energy prices are now rising again.