China has growth potential: McKinsey expert

LONDON - The underlying forces of China's economic growth remain strong and will unleash more growth potential in the future, McKinsey's global managing director has said.

"I am very bullish on Chinese economy," Dominic Barton told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Noting that 18 million people moved last year from rural to urban areas in China, Barton predicted growth of 6-7 percent for the world's second-largest economy in coming years.

Comparing China's urbanization to gravity, Barton said it is a compelling force that drives rural residents to cities.

China now is only 60 percent urbanized, leaving great potential even in the infrastructure and real estate industries, the consultant expert explained.

McKinsey expects that the Chinese cities will fuel more than a quarter of growth in global GDP through 2025; by 2030 there will be 2.2 billion new middle-class consumers, of which 800 million are from China, Barton told the Young Icebreakers, a Sino-UK business network, in London.

Although China will see some bumpy roads ahead due to asset prices adjustment, non-performing loans and shadow banking, Barton said the underlying trend will continue, as the structural transition is unlocking more growing potentials.