OREANDA-NEWS. October 27, 2014. The Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group were held in Washington, D.C. Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, as the head of Chinese Government Delegation, attended the Annual Meetings and spoke on China’s current economic situations at the 30th Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC).

The Meeting of the IMFC discussed the current global economic situations, financial market developments and risks, the global policy agenda, reform of the IMF, and etc.

Participants were of the view that an uneven recovery continues around the world, but downside risks have increased. A revival in economic activity is underway in some advanced economies, notably in the United States and United Kingdom. The recovery is modest in Japan, and tentative in the euro area. Growth remains firm and should increase modestly across many emerging market economies, and will generally remain buoyant in low-incoming developing countries. Faced with the current situations, countries should resolutely push ahead and implement decisive structural reforms, support job creation, boost demand, guide credit to flow to the real sector, and be mindful of financial stability risks. Monetary normalization in advanced economies should be carefully calibrated and well-communicated to normalize adverse spillovers and spillbacks. Formulation and implementation of concrete medium-term fiscal consolidation plans remain crucial in many advanced economies. Emerging market and low-income developing economies should rebuild fiscal buffers where needed, strengthen institutional frameworks, increase resilience, and prevent external financial shocks.

The Meeting called on the IMF to provide deeper analysis of the risks, spillover effects, and the external sector, enhance and integrate financial and macroeconomic surveillance. The meeting welcomed the IMF’s scaled-up assistance to three West African countries affected by the Ebola epidemic. In addition, the Meeting strongly urged the United States to ratify the IMF quota and governance reforms agreed to in 2010, and called on the IMF to build on its existing work and stand ready with options for next steps if the 2010 reforms are not ratified by year-end.

Governor Zhou briefed participants on the current economic situations in China. He pointed out that the economic performance is within a reasonable range, the employment situations are better than expected, and economic growth is expected to be around 7.5 percent for the whole year. Although adjustment of the real estate market, environmental pollution management and slowing growth in the manufacturing sector may have impacts on growth in the short term, with on-going urbanization and shift in the development pattern, the Chinese economy is expected to maintain sustainable and higher-quality growth in the medium and long terms. The Chinese government will continue to implement a sound monetary policy, promote financial reforms, and strengthen financial risk management.

During the 3 days, the Joint Annual Meeting of the IMF and World Bank, the ministerial meeting of the Development Committee, and a number of other meetings were also held. PBC Deputy Governor Yi Gang and Deputy Finance Minister Shi Yaobing attended the meetings.