Leading Irish economist says Chinese VP's visit landmark for Ireland (2)

Halligan said Ireland could recognize that China has now become a significant actor on the global stage and the rest of the world will also have to acknowledge this as China's economy rises to the top.

"It's very obvious that the strategy being pursued by the Chinese government and peoples is working very successfully economically and the success has been so consistent that everybody has got to accept the fact that it exists, that it's there, despite the fact that the growth rates have been so astonishingly high that people thought this couldn't be continued."

Halligan said the Chinese vice president's trip would be a "landmark visit" and one of the most important things to happen to Ireland, comparing it to the May 2011 visit of the United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth II. He said there were several areas in which the two countries could develop their cooperation in the future and ways in which China could help Ireland with its current economic difficulties.

"We would hope for a lot of inward investment from China into Ireland both in the financial institutions and the financial markets but also we would like to see Chinese companies coming here to headquarter themselves here, most particularly small and medium size enterprises and we would also like to see Chinese companies ultimately coming here for manufacturing purposes."