Merrill expects 'bumps' ahead, but future bright

Merrill Lynch, the beleaguered US investment bank that Bank of America recently took over, yesterday said it is facing "temporary bumps" in its investments in China, although it remained confident in the longer-term prospects for the Chinese economy.

"For the short term, the Chinese equity and property markets look bad, but after the 'bump in the road', the future will be bright," Erh-fei Liu, China chairman of Merrill Lynch Asia, said yesterday in a news briefing at the Merrill Lynch China Investment Summit.

Despite his confidence, Liu said the economy of China is not big enough to pull the rest of the world out of a global recession.