The World Bank said yesterday that China should be able to meet both the challenges of the current global downturn and the development targets set out in its 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10).

"Despite the impacts of the global financial storm and economic slowdown, China's economic growth momentum remains sound," the bank said in a report released yesterday on its mid-term evaluation of the implementation of China's 11th Five-Year Plan.

China's year-on-year GDP growth weakened to 9 percent for 2008 from 13 percent in 2007. Analysts widely believed that the first and second quarter of this year would be the worst times for the Chinese economy, which is then predicted to gain strength from the third quarter.