Nation’s further opening-up conducive to growth: IMF

China’s further opening-up to international trade and investment will help enhance its economic growth and stability as the country is transitioning to a stage of high-quality development, IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld has said.

China’s reform and opening-up that began in the late 1970s “has had remarkable positive effects on China’s standard of living,” Obstfeld said in an interview with a small group of reporters ahead of his retirement from the IMF at the end of the year.

“Many of those effects have spilled over to other countries, particularly in East Asia and elsewhere in the emerging world,” said Obstfeld, who will return to the University of California, Berkeley, after serving as economic counselor and director of the Research Department at the IMF.

As part of its efforts to commemorate the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up, China has announced a series of concrete measures to open wider to foreign investors, including broadening market access, improving the investment environment and increasing imports.

“Opening up more to foreign investment could benefit China greatly,” Obstfeld said, adding that there is “significant room” for China to open up further and to give markets an even “bigger role” in the economy, which would help enhance China’s economic growth and stability.

Noting that China has taken steps to rein in rapid credit growth and better oversee the financial sector, Obstfeld believed greater exchange rate flexibility is also essential for China’s long-term growth.