World Bank chief says China's economic fundamentals sound

BEIJING - World Bank Group (WBG) President Jim Yong Kim said Friday that China's economic fundamentals are sound despite the recent equity market volatility.

"China has built the world's second largest economy and it has undertaken significant reforms aimed at providing all of its citizens with an opportunity to enjoy greater prosperity," the visiting WBG chief said at a press conference in Beijing.

He said China has strong resolve in continuing to adopt fiscal and financial reforms to transform its growth model.

While China's growth has gradually slowed since 2012, signaling what President Xi Jinping has called the "new normal", the country remains "the largest contributor to world growth since the global financial crisis" with roughly 30 percent of global growth coming from China alone over the last couple of years, he told reporters.

China's growth slowed to 7.4 percent last year and the WBG predicted about 7-percent economic growth for 2015, which is "still the envy of the world," he said.

Despite recent stock market fluctuations, "China's economy is strong and its fundamentals are sound," he said.

Chinese leaders are moving forward resolutely on their ambitious program of economic and social reforms aimed at transforming China's growth model toward "more efficient, equitable, and environmentally sustainable" growth, he added.