Bangkok (ANTARA) \u2013 An International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said\nChina was making proactive efforts to uphold a rules-based multilateral\ntrading system. Chinese companies, he added, could play an important\nrole in disseminating new technologies and supporting their adoption\nthrough outbound investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe IMF welcomes China\u2019s proactive efforts to uphold a rules-based\nmultilateral trading system,\u201d Thomas Helbling, Deputy Director of the\nIMF\u2019s Asia and Pacific Department, told Xinhua in an interview on the\nsidelines of the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings in\nBangkok, Thailand.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, it is important for countries to resolve the underlying\ntensions and differences behind trade disputes. For a major economy such\nas China, it is important to take a leadership role in resolving some of\nthese differences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Helbling also said he hoped China would help other countries benefit\nfrom new technologies through investment. Foreign direct investment by\nChinese companies could play an important role in spreading new\ntechnologies and supporting their adoption in other countries, including\nin the digital and green-energy sectors.<\/p>\n
Helbling said the IMF remained concerned about the risks posed by\ngrowing geoeconomic fragmentation and geopolitical tensions, which could\nhamper trade, increase trade friction and inefficiencies in the global\nand regional economies, and weaken growth.<\/p>\n
He stressed that the IMF had long advocated resolving the underlying\nissues behind trade tensions and maintaining a trading system that is\nideally multilateral and open.<\/p>\n
On economic resilience in China and Asia as a whole, Helbling said\nthe effects of energy shocks had been more muted than expected earlier\nthis year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn China\u2019s case, the government has cushioned the impact on end-user\nprices and mobilised other energy sources to offset some of the negative\nshock to fossil-fuel supplies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that the AI boom was spreading and generating broader\npositive spillover effects across the region, including in China.<\/p>\n
In its latest Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific,\nreleased on Thursday (15 October), the IMF raised its forecast for\nAsia\u2019s economic growth in 2026 to 4.8 per cent, an increase of 0.4\npercentage points from its April projection.<\/p>\n
On the Asia-Pacific economic outlook, Helbling said that although\ninventory buffers and measures such as energy subsidies or tax cuts had\nlimited the impact of energy supply shocks, these measures would be\ndifficult to sustain for long.<\/p>\n
If energy shocks persisted or intensified, countries would eventually\nrun out of their inventories, and the full impact of higher prices would\naffect their economies more severely, he explained.<\/p>\n
He recommended that countries rebuild their buffers to ensure they\nare prepared to respond effectively to further energy supply shocks.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/imf-china-is-making-proactive-efforts-to-uphold-multilateral-trade-1792407131", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }