HSBC raises its GDP growth forecast for China

HSBC has raised its forecast for China's 2009 gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 8.1 percent from the previous projection of 7.9 percent, Stephen Green, chairman of HSBC Group announced at the annual International Business Leaders' Advisory Council (IBLAC) held in Shanghai Sunday.

Green said that although the global economy was turbulent amid the financial crisis, two most noteworthy and transformative trends will not be reversed, and they are the rise of China, and the focus of the global economy shifting from west to east.

He also predicted that China's 4 trillion yuan stimulus package would further drive China's economy growth and the country is expected to maintain recovery momentum into 2010.

Although some signs show that the global financial market is beginning to stabilize, Green said the financial crisis is still continuing, which will further exert negative influence on economic entities and the financial market. But China is one of the few that can sustain economic growth.

As China's largest city, Shanghai sustained stable growth amid the economic downturn, which showed the country's economic power and the coastal city's potential to become a world-class financial center, Green pointed out.

The Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI) and other indexes showed that at present, only New York and London can be regarded as deserved global financial centers, but after the financial crisis, he said, the world would begin to call a new world financial center in Asia that is comparable to New York or London.

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