Emerging economies key to keep world economy away from double-dip

As long as the emerging economies continue to grow robustly, the world will not drop back to a double-dip recession. That's the word from Fan Gang, director of the National Economic Research Institute at the China Reform Foundation. In an interview with Xinhua on Friday during the APEC CEO Summit, a two-day event studded with economists and business leaders and held on the sidelines of the APEC meetings, Fan Gang, a leading Chinese economist, told Xinhua that emerging and developing economies were key to the world recovery. The economist said there isn't a quick or short-term solution to the debt woes in Europe. A double dip recession in Europe is likely and the United State is also expected to recover at a very slow pace. However, he remains positive about the outlook of the world economy. Fan Gang said the world is very different from 70 years ago during the Great Depression, when only the developed countries counted. Last year, emerging markets accounted for 50 percent of the global GDP and increasingly became an important part of the world. "As long as this part of the world continues to grow robustly, the world economy, the world market will continue to grow so that will prevent the disaster," the economist said. Bearing that notion in mind, how to make sure the emerging economies were growing in a sustainable way was one of the biggest concerns among APEC participants here in Hawaii. Fan Gang believes that a lot of issues need to be dealt with during the APEC meeting, such as the world economic situation, regional trade and financial regulations. He also said one of the focuses clearly will be sustainable growth for developing countries in the region. To maintain rapid and sustainable growth in the developing countries was not only of their own interests, Fan Gang said, but also key to the recovery in developed countries. Fan Gang cited the latest data out of Beijing that China's imports expanded 26 percent last month, and a big chunk of the growth came from Europe. "That would provide some kind of market for its recovery because eventually it's all about growth," he said. In order to create a preferable environment for developing countries to achieve sustainable growth, the economist believes that stronger cooperation and coordination are needed inside APEC families. Protectionism, he said, was the least thing wanted, especially in such a fragile economy. It's more important, the economist said, for all of the economies inside APEC to take a firm stance to against all forms of trade protectionism. "There's one thing we need to make sure," he said, "An open market can provide more opportunities for the economic growth and jobs creation, while closing the door can lead you to nowhere." The economist also emphasized that APEC is a key stage for world and business leaders even if the meetings may not produce any tangible solutions. "This kind of forum is important," he said, "You don't need to achieve some kind of solution or some unanimous consensus or pass some bill which will be practically enforced. As long as you can increase the understanding among the people, among the leadership, among the business people, more understanding will create more cooperation in the future."