Full text: President Xi's joint written interview with media(2)

2. How does China view its current economic slowdown? What are the future prospects of China' s economy? Will China adopt any new measures to stabilize economic growth?

The fundamentals of the Chinese economy are sound. In the first half of this year, China' s GDP grew by 7.6%, which was relatively high compared with other countries. In fact, the growth rate could have been higher had we continued with the past development model. However, we have chosen to implement a macro economic policy under which we will press ahead with the adjustment of economic structure in order to transform and upgrade the economy. We would rather bring down the growth rate to a certain extent in order to solve the fundamental problems hindering our economic development in the long run. In this sense, such a growth rate is the result of sound adjustment.

In specific terms, domestic demand accounted for 7.5 percentage points in the 7.6% growth rate, and our current account surplus is now within the internationally recognized reasonable range. We have focused on improving our social security policy and stabilized and expanded employment, providing 7.25 million new jobs in the first half of this year. We are indeed confronted with difficulties such as local government debt and overcapacity in some industries, but the problems are well within control and could be handled properly.

China's economy, the second largest in the world, is highly integrated with the world economy. China's economic development has contributed significantly to world economic recovery. A China that enjoys more stable economic performance, higher quality of growth and better prospect of sustainable growth undoubtedly bodes well for the world economy. We have the conditions to realize sustained and sound economic development, which will expand market and development space for other countries and generate more positive spillover effect for the global economy.

3. You will have a bilateral meeting with President Putin on the sidelines of the G20 St Petersburg Summit. What expectations do you have for this summit? How do you see the work Russia has done in hosting the summit?

I am very much looking forward to meeting my old friend President Putin in St Petersburg. As I said during my visit to Russia last March, I hope the two sides will seize the opportune time of early spring to plough and hoe and reap a bumper harvest not only for our bilateral relations but also for peace and development in the world.

It is heartening to note that both sides are working hard to implement the cooperation consensus and agreements President Putin and I reached in Moscow, and bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, from economy, trade, investment, energy and law enforcement, to strategic and security matters, military-to-military relations, defense technology, local exchanges, culture and international affairs, has yielded important results or made positive progress.

This time, my meeting with President Putin will take place in autumn - the golden season of harvest. What has been sowed in spring will be turned into rich fruits this autumn. Together, we will review the progress in bilateral ties since our March meeting, set the direction and targets for cooperation in various areas in the next stage, and witness the signing of many new cooperation documents between relevant departments and companies.

I am sure that both sides will use the upcoming summit meeting as an opportunity to further capitalize on the high-level political relationship between our two countries, deepen practical cooperation across the board, intensify coordination and collaboration in international affairs, and take China-Russia relations to the next level to facilitate development efforts in both countries.

As the holder of this year's G20 presidency, Russia has made robust efforts to coordinate among members, strengthen the role of the G20 and promote world economic recovery. It has done a great deal of effective work in preparation for the G20 summit, fully demonstrating the role and impact of a major global player. China highly commends Russia's effort.

China pledges its full support to Russia's efforts to host a successful summit. We believe that under Russia's stewardship and with the efforts of all parties, the forthcoming St Petersburg summit will deliver positive results. By building consensus for G20 cooperation, putting forward ideas for global economic governance, and stimulating growth momentum for the world economy, the summit will serve as an important link in the course of G20' s development.