HELSINKI, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Regional economic and financial integration remains an important strategy in Asia while many nations elsewhere have turned "more inwards in recent years," a Finnish researcher has said.

Asian intra-regional trade and investment flows will likely keep growing over the coming years, Tuuli McCully, a senior researcher at the Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies, said in a recent interview with Xinhua on the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2024.

The BFA is a good example of how the international community can exchange views and find common ground, McCully said.

Multilateral dialogue on economy, technology and social development is of special importance in Asia because countries there are at such divergent levels of economic development, she said.

Describing Asia as "the home for global growth leaders," McCully sees as a continuing trend that a large share of global economic growth originates in Asia.

"The region's dynamism is supported by continuing intra-regional economic and financial integration," she said. "Structural reforms are creating a more favorable business environment."

Commenting on China's new development philosophy, McCully said "many of these concepts are highly critical for improving productivity growth in China and helping the economy in its structural transition."

China's focus on themes such as innovation and green transition is positive, she said.

"New quality productive forces" has become a buzzword in China in recent months. McCully said she understood it as an "industrial strategy that focuses on high technology and disruptive innovations across many industries," listing manufacturing, IT, energy and health among others.

She said the strategy has the potential to create new opportunities for the Chinese economy and global cooperation.

However, she cautioned that it may not be a smooth process and that the time horizon is not short.

Commenting on China's overall economy, McCully said "it is worth noting, though, that decelerating growth is a normal phenomenon for any developing country that is becoming more advanced, as its economic structure goes through fundamental changes." Enditem

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