Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the first session of the eighth summit of the Group of 20 (G20) in St Petersburg, Russia, Sept 5, 2013. Xi delivered a speech during the session on Thursday. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China can maintain sustained, healthy development of its economy, which will bring more positive spillover for the world, overseas experts and scholars say.

President Xi Jinping's speech at the eighth Group of 20 (G20) summit in St Petersburg this week showed a determination that China would unswervingly push forward reforms and safeguard and develop an open world economy, they said.

Firm determination in reform

Alan S. Alexandroff, director of the Global Summitry Project at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, said the Chinese economy had developed rapidly and scored remarkable achievements since the country's reform and opening up.

The new generation of Chinese leaders clearly realized the original development model could not satisfy the Chinese economy's further development and a restructuring was needed, he said.

Promoting reform was a long-term strategy, Alexandroff said, adding Chinese leaders' determination embodied their wisdom and self-confidence.

Gu Xuewu, a tenured professor of political science and international relations at University of Bonn, said Xi's speech indicated that, for long-term and sustained development, China would seek to completely transform its development model, even at the expense of a slowdown in growth.

A series of measures in restructuring reform listed by Xi would help the world understand the Chinese government's foresight and build confidence in China's sustained development, he said.

Pierre Picquart, a China expert in France, said Xi's speech came at a time when the world was still affected by the economic and financial crisis.

All countries should coordinate together to create a healthy economic environment, said Picquart, who has a doctorate in geopolitics at University of Paris-VIII.

Hung Tran, executive managing director of the Institute of International Finance, said the international community welcomed China's efforts in building up its market system and boosting the flexibility of the Chinese currency's exchange rate.

China would make greater contributions to the world economy by transforming its economic development model and realizing more sustainable growth, he said.

Bright prospects for Chinese economy

Marina Larionova, head of the National Research University Higher School of Economics' International Organizations Research Institute in Moscow, said President Xi's speech was in response to those contemplating calamity in the Chinese economy and would lift the world's confidence in the Chinese economy's future.

She said the Chinese economy macroscopically was going well, although it had a tendency to slow down recently. There was no reason to believe the Chinese economy would have a hard landing, Larionova said.

Macario Schetinno, a professor with the Monterrey Institute of Technology, said China's gross domestic product, according to Xi's keynote, grew 7.6 percent in the first half of this year, which showed the Chinese government was making efforts to adjust the economic structure.

Schetinno said he believed the Chinese economy's outlook in the next 10 years was positive, adding China would find new sources of economic growth in accordance with the international environment.

Yves Tiberghien, director of the University of British Columbia's Institute of Asian Research, said China's economic restructuring, which caused a painful slowdown, would benefit the country in the long haul.

"If you compare China with the United States and Europe, who are not doing great, and with other emerging countries, who are doing worse, you will realize that in fact China is still doing the best," Tiberghien said.

He said the current slump could be seen as "a controlled slowdown managed by the country, as part of the process of rebalancing."

The ongoing restructuring meant China was striving to turn away from heavy investment in the real estate and export sectors, and a reliance on energy and resources, and moving towards a consumption-driven, environmentally friendly growth path, Tiberghien said.

Nicholas Borst, a senior fellow with the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Xi's speech showed China was looking forward to a stable international economic environment during its economic transition.

The Chinese leader delivered the message that China was willing to accept a little less growth today for more sustainable and balanced growth in the future, he said.