Investing.com - Asian stocks rose in morning trade on Thursday, with Chinese stocks gaining about half a per cent after Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan said the country’s economic growth “will continue and will be sustainable.”
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Wang said that “there will be a lot of uncertainties in 2019, but something that is certain is that China’s economy, China’s growth, will continue and will be sustainable.”
His comments came after China reported on Monday that the growth in its fourth-quarter GDP slowed to 6.4% from the previous quarter’s 6.5%, leaving 2018 growth the weakest in 28 years.
Wang added that the Chinese government is trying to remind people that the “quality, structure and efficiency” of the economic development is “what really matters.”
The Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component traded 0.5% and 0.9% higher by 10:51 PM ET (03:51 GMT) on Thursday following Wang’s speech.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.2%. Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700) fell 1.5% on reports that the Cyberspace Administration of China accused the company’s popular news app “Tian Tian Kuai Bao” for spreading vulgar information. Tencent has been ordered to overhaul its operations, the watchdog said in a notice.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.4%. State-run media Korean Central News Agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s “unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue” on Wednesday. Kim also ordered “technical preparations” for the next meeting between the two leaders, according to the media.
“Kim Jong Un said that we will believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump, wait with patience and in good faith and, together with the U.S., advance step by step toward the goal to be reached by the two countries,” the report said.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 underperformed its regional peers and traded 0.3% lower in morning trade.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 was up 0.2%.