China's economic rebound boosting regional growth, IMF official says

China's economic rebound is having a significant positive spillover on the regional growth of Asia, said Krishna Srinivasan, director of the Asia and Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund.

Srinivasan said during the International Finance Forum One-on-One Global Dialogue on Friday that one percentage point increase in China's growth leads to a 0.3 percent growth in output level across Asia.

A pickup in China's tourism has "had a huge impact" on countries like Thailand and Vietnam, he said, adding that recovering consumption in China will boost exports of its trade partners in the region.

"I think China still has enough policy space to provide support to the economy," Srinivasan said, given that inflation is muted in country.

It is advisable for the focus of China's fiscal support to shift from boosting infrastructure investment to strengthening the social protection system to boost consumption and promote economic rebalancing, he said.

Srinivasan also called for stronger action from the central government to prevent property sector stress from having a large blow to the macroeconomy.