China's economic recovery is essential to refuel the sluggish global economy, the chief of the largest South Korean business lobby group said on Tuesday.

"A recovery in the Chinese economy will be essential for the global economy to pick up the pace," said Cho Suck-rai, chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries.

The Chinese government's 4-trillion-yuan or US$585 billion stimulus package will certainly help the global economy get out of its recession, Cho said at a meeting with visiting Communist Party of China (CPC) senior official Li Changchun.

The global economy is forecasted to shrink by one percent in 2009, which would mark the first annual contraction in 60 years, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Amid pessimistic signs in global job markets and trade conditions, however, hopes for a recovery emerged after the Group of 20 nations agreed to put US$1.1 trillion into global financial institutions to fight the global recession.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2009)