Quotable

"Growth in China has seemingly passed the trough and looks set to recover further in the second half of this year."

Jorgen Elmeskov, the deputy chief economist of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, saying that China's low inflation provides scope to ease monetary policy if needed, but strong credit growth suggests the need for caution. He emphasized the need for deeper structural reforms in China to maintain stable growth. China's economic growth is expected to pick up to 8 percent by the fourth quarter.

"Education of the population is very strong and Chinese people are by nature big savers. If you combine these two things together, you have another 10 to 15 years of what is called 'extensive growth'."

Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies, a Brussels-based think-tank, saying that despite ups and downs, the long-term prospects for the Chinese economy are bright.

"The PMI figure suggests the economy is further stabilizing. It showed a rebound in both domestic and external demand, and upstream product prices have risen correspondingly."

Zhang Liqun, an analyst with the Development Research Center of the State Council, commenting after the purchasing managers' index rose to 51 in August from 50.3 in July, higher than market expectations

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/06/2013 page14)