China has ability to push forward reforms, president says

China's President Xi Jinping gives a speech during a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge incident, a skirmish in 1937 that sparked an all-out Sino-Japanese war, in front of the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in Beijing, July 7, 2014. REUTERS/Xinhua/Ju Peng reuters_tickers

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has the ability to continuously push forward economic reforms, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday, even as the world’s second largest economy felt the strain of the global slowdown.

Xi made the remarks at a conference of economic experts, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

“China has advantageous conditions for continuing healthy development, and we firmly grasp the right to take the initiative in our country’s development,” Xi said, according to the broadcast.

The state of the global economy has brought many negative consequences for development in China, but this must be observed calmly by policymakers, who must prepare for all kinds of risks, Xi said.

(Reporting by Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)