Economists optimistic about China's 2013 outlook

(Xinhua) Updated: 2013-01-08 14:12

As for investment strategies in China, the CICC's Huang said the Chinese market would improve this year with two rounds of rally. The first round will likely occur in the first quarter and the second one in the second half of 2013, with new economic programs launched and the United States, China's second largest trade partner, picking up growth momentum.

For the whole year, he predicted the A-share would rise 15 to 20 percent, and the magnitude may be bigger if other factors, such as stronger money injection by the central bank and milder regulations on bank bars, come in.

Huang said that while China's contribution to the world's GDP was growing larger, its contribution to the global capital market would also catch up.

On the RMB's exchange rate, Huang Yiping, a professor of Peking University, said that judging from the current account balances, the exchange rate may be close to the equilibrium rate now.

China's central bank had also reduced its intervention in the foreign exchange markets, hoping to introduce two-way movement, he said.

The professor said the exchange rate may become more volatile in the short term but it should continue to appreciate in the medium term.

The RMB will be increasingly used in international transactions but has yet to become a major global currency, he added.

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