China's Xi Sees No Hard Landing for Sino Economy in 2012

(Reuters) - Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said on Friday the Chinese economy would experience stable growth and avoid a hard landing this year, dispelling a scenario economists fear may upset the global economy.

The Chinese leader-in-waiting, turning to courting American companies and governors hungry for a slice of his nation's growth, told a business forum in Los Angeles that the world's No. 2 economy will continue to push domestic demand while directing investment toward the United States.

Xi said 2012 will be a crucial year in driving the 12th five-year plan. China's economy will maintain stable growth ... there will be no so-called hard landing.

We will encourage more consumption, imports, and outward investment, he told a business forum in Los Angeles on the final leg of his five-day U.S. visit, drawing light applause.

Xi is almost certain to succeed Hu Jintao as Chinese president in just over a year, and his tour of the United States has featured commercial deals and reassuring talk intended to blunt American ire about the trade gap between the countries.

The 58-year-old former Shanghai party secretary is poised to become China's next leader after a decade in which it has grown to become the world's second-largest economy, while the United States has endured the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The U.S. trade deficit with China expanded to a record $295.5 billion in 2011, and many U.S. lawmakers complain that China's yuan currency is significantly undervalued, giving its companies an unfair advantage.

As well, the Obama administration has accused Beijing of distorting trade flows by ignoring intellectual property theft, by putting up barriers against foreign investors, and by creating rules that favor China's state-owned behemoths.

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On Friday, Xi said his country is working to address those concerns.

We are strengthening intellectual property protection through a mix of administrative and judicial measures, he said.

Xi's stop in Los Angeles has been choreographed to display China's case that its rapid growth presents the U.S. economy with opportunities, not threats. He is also due to attend a meeting of U.S. state governors and Chinese provincial leaders talking about expanding economic links.

Dreamworks Animation, the creator of Kung Fu Panda and other hit films, could pave the way for a production studio in China through a deal that could be announced during Xi's visit to Los Angeles, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this week.

Before Los Angeles, Xi visited the heartland farm state of Iowa, where Chinese soybean buyers announced they would buy more than $4 billion in U.S. soybeans this year.

All told, the Chinese buyers are expected to sign deals to buy a record amount of U.S. soybeans - some 12 million tons - this year, officials said.

Chinese officials are worried about their government becoming a focus of feuding during the U.S. presidential election race, when jobs and economic opportunities are likely to weigh on many voters' minds.

On Thursday, a leading Republican contender for the White House, Mitt Romney, criticized President Barack Obama's China policy and called meetings this week with Vice President Xi empty pomp.

Earlier, in Washington, Xi suggested that the United States should fix its own economic problems and relax high-tech export controls, instead of blaming China.

China has become the United States' fastest growing export market, Xi told an audience of business executives and policymakers on Wednesday.

Speaking frankly, an important aspect of addressing the imbalance in Chinese-U.S. trade is the United States' own economic policies and structural adjustment.

Xi echoed those sentiments on Friday but also sought to dispel fears that China's economic and political ascendancy could pose a threat.

A prosperous and stable China will not be a threat to any country, he said.

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