Wen Jiabao says Chinese economy still facing 'downward' pressure

Washington, Aug 16 (ANI): Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has claimed that the country's economy still faces downward pressure and the current economic problems may continue to persist, hindering the nation's progress.

He said that China still hasn't been able to establish a trend of economic recovery.

"The downward pressure on the economy is still relatively large and the economic slowdown may continue for a while," the Wall Street journal quoted Jiabao, as saying.

However, Wen added that economic fundamentals are still positive, as China has the ability to meet its targets for "economic and social development" this year, in a likely reference to the official 7.5 percent target for gross domestic product growth this year.

Wen made the comments on a visit to Zhejiang province in eastern China, where he visited various local businesses, according to state media reports, the paper said.

His comments come after the release last week of a raft of downbeat Chinese economic data for July, in which bank lending, exports, imports and industrial production, all showed weak growth and were worse than economists expected, the paper added. (ANI)