BANGKOK, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China actively upholds the rules-based multilateral trading system, and Chinese companies are helping spread and implement new technologies in digital and green fields through outbound investment, Thomas Helbling, deputy director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, said in an interview with Xinhua.
Speaking during the 2026 IMF-World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Helbling said the IMF appreciates China's efforts. "It is very important that countries address the tensions and differences behind trade disputes. It is significant that economies like China play a leadership role in resolving some of these differences," he said.
Helbling said he hopes China will use investment to help new technologies benefit other countries, noting that Chinese outbound direct investment plays an important role in spreading and implementing new technologies, including digital technology and green energy.
He also warned that geoeconomic fragmentation and geopolitical tensions could impede trade, leading to more trade friction, inefficiency and slower growth, and stressed that the IMF has consistently advocated addressing the root causes of trade tensions and moving toward an open multilateral trading system.
On the resilience of Asian economies, especially China's, Helbling said China has successfully managed the shock from rising international energy prices and offset the impact of fossil fuel supply disruption by drawing on other energy sources. The rapid development of the AI industry, he added, has produced broad positive spillovers across the region.
The IMF's latest Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and Pacific, released on Oct. 15, raised the region's 2026 growth forecast to 4.8 percent, 0.4 percentage points higher than the April projection.
Helbling cautioned that measures such as oil stock releases, energy subsidies and tax cuts only cushion the energy shock temporarily. If the shock persists or intensifies and inventories run out, high oil prices would hit economies harder, and countries should rebuild buffers to respond effectively to future supply shocks.
