Growth still healthy, says IMF official

Although economic growth has slowed in China, it is still in healthy territory, said Olivier Blanchard, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund.

China is expected to grow between 7 percent and 8 percent at the current stage.

But as it shifts to domestic consumption and services for growth, it could sustain a 6 percent growth rate in the longer term, Blanchard said during the IMF-World Bank annual meeting, which opened in Washington on Friday.