China could become one of the major players of the world by the year 2050, Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew said in Shanghai on September 29.

　 Lee said in a speech at a luncheon reception of the Fortune Global Forum that by the middle of next century, China's economy would be about four-fifth that of the United States. "In 2050, China's per capita income would reach 12,000 US dollars, equivalent to the average Korean's before the Asian financial crisis."

　 He said that by that time, China would have completed three transitions -- from a planned to a market economy, from a mainly agrarian to an industrialized society, and from a centralized to a more participatory system of governance, although they are an enormously complex set of tasks to accomplish.

　 He predicted that given the size of the Chinese economy, by year 2050 the Renminbi, China's official currency, is likely to be a major international currency, floating freely against the other three major currencies -- the US dollar, the euro and the yen, and the world's trade and reserve holdings will be dominated by these four currencies.

　 In addition, he said that if the rule of law becomes firmly established in China in the next two to three decades, by 2050 Shanghai could be a global financial center. With controls over capital flow gradually dismantled, the domestic market opened, and the Renminbi fully convertible, Shanghai could rise to the ranks of New York and London.

　 The Singaporean senior minister first visited China 23 years ago. He met in Shanghai on September 27 with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

　 Lee said he has seen China transformed over the past 23 years. "It is hard to believe how different are people's attitudes, habits and willingness to speak their minds," Lee said. Lee said he has reasons to be optimistic. "I base my optimism for China's progress, in the near term, on the determination and increasing pragmatism of China's leadership that I have witnessed over the last two decades," he said. "Over the long term, my hopes are placed on the many highly talented people among China's younger generation, especially those who have studied abroad or travelled widely in their impressionable years." (Xinhua)