1st LD-Writethru: China can deal with economic challenges: official

China has the ability to deal with economic challenges, the head of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Wednesday.

The economy will be affected by unstable and uncertain global conditions in 2016. At home, it will face growing downward pressure and risk, Xu Shaoshi, head of the NDRC, said at a news briefing.

China's economy expanded 6.9 percent year on year in 2015, the slowest annual expansion in a quarter of a century, weighed down by a property market downturn, falling trade and weak factory activity.

Although growth has slowed, it is still within a reasonable range, and signs of improvement are emerging, such as better demand and industrial structure as well as more balanced regional development, he said.

The economy is unlikely to face a hard landing and drag down the global economy, he said, dismissing concerns about the economic prospects from pessimistic observers.

The hard landing forecast has been repeatedly mentioned following the 2008 global financial crisis but never became reality.

"China's steady growth and bright economic outlook will show that opinion cannot hold water," Xu said, citing several positive factors, including sound fundamentals, enormous market demand, rising production quality and more sophisticated government regulation.

"China remains a major driving force for global growth," Xu said. The GDP increase is envied by other economies and China is still the world's second largest importer.

China's contribution to the world economic growth has surpassed 25 percent, even higher than the United States, the world's largest economy, data showed.

Xu said the Chinese market will continue to be favored by multinationals as further opening up in the service sector, including finance, will attract more companies and reforms in foreign capital management will create better business environment.

Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, which excludes investment in the financial sector, rose 6.4 percent year on year to 126.27 billion U.S. dollars in 2015.

When responding to doubts on China's official data, Xu said the GDP calculation is in line with international standards and is accepted by international organizations including the United Nations, the World Bank and the IMF.

Xu admitted that attempts to reduce industrial overcapacity are likely to increase unemployment in some regions, especially those dependent on steel and coal such as Shanxi and Heilongjiang provinces. But central and local governments will have policies to deal with increased unemployment, he said. Endi