China's focus on quality means more sustainable growth: UBS CEO

SHANGHAI - China's focus on quality means future growth will be even more sustainable, according to the CEO of international investment bank UBS Group.

While addressing a company conference that opened Monday, Sergio P Ermotti said that although the road to growth may be a bit bumpier, UBS sees a sweet spot in four trends converging to create momentum for China.

China has a stable and consistent government and a supportive market ecosystem with a growing and increasingly wealthy domestic consumer base.

"I think one thing not well appreciated about China's demographics is that while the population is aging, the new workforce is far better educated, which will provide what we might term an 'engineer dividend' for the next decade," he said.

Meanwhile, China's national savings have served it well over the last few years. As financial markets develop, more of this capital is finding its way into venture capital and other types of early funding, he said.

Ermotti said UBS has good reason to stay in China as the bank expects China's affluent segment to grow around 13 percent annually over the next 5 years as the middle class grows and becomes wealthier.

In asset management, the Chinese market will increase fivefold by 2030 to $17 trillion, accounting for half of the net inflows to the global industry, he added.

"We will continue to invest in China," said Ermotti, who outlined plans two years ago to double UBS's headcount in China as part of its 2020 vision.

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held last October made high quality development a key theme for the country's future growth.