Interview: Thai central bank official perceives China as stabilizer, driving force for global economy

Tourists watch as a live band performs at a street market in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Feb. 3, 2023. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

"The world economy is going through a high inflation period and a growth slowdown. China has managed to keep inflation quite low while its growth is bouncing back quite rapidly. That's a stabilizing force, beneficial for both the regional and global economy," said Piti Disyatat, assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand.

BANGKOK, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese economy, rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, serves as the stabilizer and driving force for the regional and global economy, a Thailand's central bank senior official has said.

Despite a global economic slowdown, mainly driven by advanced economies this year, "Asia becomes the fastest growing region in the world, and China is playing an important part of that," Piti Disyatat, assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand (BOT) said during an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

"The world economy is going through a high inflation period and a growth slowdown. China has managed to keep inflation quite low while its growth is bouncing back quite rapidly. That's a stabilizing force, beneficial for both the regional and global economy," said Piti, who once worked at the International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements.

Latest data from China's National Bureau of Statistics have shown that China's gross domestic product grew 4.5 percent year on year in the first quarter this year from 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. On a quarterly basis, the economy increased 2.2 percent in the first three months.

Piti said he has been very impressed by how China has progressed over the past decades, in terms of integrating into the global economy and growing at a rapid pace for such a long time, adding "I'm quite positive on China's economy."

 Chinese tourists visit the Grand Palace scenic spot in Bangkok, Thailand, Feb. 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

The BOT expected the Chinese economy to grow 5.5 percent this year, a decent growth and "a quite high growth rate for the size of the economy China has," he said, commending China's approach of navigating economic development with vision and patience.

The Chinese economy is of significance to Thailand and the region, and as ASEAN's largest trading partner, major provider of foreign direct investment as well as main source of tourist arrivals, China's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic benefits both Thailand and other ASEAN countries, he added.

Optimistic about the prospect of economic and trade cooperation between Thailand and China, Piti said the two economies are closely integrated and the cooperation is already there structurally.

In addition to traditional cooperation in such areas as trade, investment and tourism, Piti eyed new opportunities for mutually beneficial Belt and Road cooperation and local currency settlement.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is a very grand vision undertaking, not just for a region, but across many parts of the world," he said.