China publicity chief Liu Qibao attends an academic forum at the Korea University in Seoul on Sunday. Photo by Yu Dae-gil/Aju News .
In a keynote speech at an academic forum at the Korea University in Seoul, Liu said China's economy is transitioning" into a "new normal" of slower growth after a long period of outstanding economic growth.
"The new normal does not mean a hard landing," Liu said.
He also noted that China's latest economic slowdown is related to the global economic trend and the government's drive to restructure the economy.
The forum was attended by scholars from China, South Korea and Japan to discuss the future of China. Liu arrived in South Korea on Friday for a four-day visit.
Billionaire investment guru George Soros has recently said that China’s state-directed economy is heading for a “hard landing.”
But Premier Li Keqiang said last Tuesday China will be able to keep its economic growth within a reasonable range, even as it faces difficulties and challenges.
China's overall debt levels remained under control and the government will be able to ward off systemic financial risks, the premier said in a comment posted on the central government's website.
China has set a target for 6.5 percent to 7 percent GDP growth in 2016, after growth fell to a 25-year low of 6.9 percent in 2015.
Earlier on Sunday, Liu inspected a theater screening Chinese films exclusively for the first time in South Korea.
Chinese students and South Korean officials greeted Liu when he arrived in the Dongyang Art Center which opened a theater to screen Chinese films on April 1 in a project sponsored by the Seoul city government.
Liu praised the theater for playing a key role in promoting Sino-Korean cultural exchanges and said it would be useful to publicize Chinese culture and films especially among young Korean people and students.
"I will try to invigorate cultural exchanges between China and South Korea" by allowing the joint production of more films between the two countries, he said through an interpreter.
The theater has screened old and new Chinese films such as "Red Sorghum" directed by Zhang Yimou who won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1988, and "Meet Miss Anxiety," a 2014 Chinese film directed by South Korea's Kwak Jae-yong.
The Chinese cultural center offers more than two films a month at no charge. It vowed to screen more films at the theater and develop it as the center for spreading Chinese culture.
Separately, Liu visited the main office of CJ E&M, South Korea's major entertainment and media contents company, in western Seoul to see its advanced technology, know-how and facilities used to produce dramas, movies and K-pop music.
CJ E&M chiarman Son Kyung-sik suggested his company would step up ties and exchanges with Chinese partners to develop high-quality cultural contents together and disseminate them in the global market.
The company has been at the front of spreading South Korea's pop culture wave "Hallyu" in China and other countries.
By Alex Lee
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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