China's development is conducive to the prosperity of the world in the current globalized society, said Nobel Prize laureate Robert A. Mundell Thursday in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

China has played an essential role in boosting the world's economic development over the past two decades, he acknowledged in a speech given at the Zhejiang Polytechnic University. He dubbed the country as "a powerful engine" and a haven for worldwide investors.

According to Prof. Mundell, China is presently the fourth largest trader in the world, next to the United States, the European Union and Japan.

China's robust export might affect some countries in the short term but, from the long-term perspective, it would benefit these countries by helping them adjust their own product mix, Prof. Mundell told the students and teachers at the forum.

He has been named honorary professor of the university.

Prof. Mundell, born in Canada in 1932, is a distinguished professor with the US Columbia University. He is the 1999 winner of the Nobel Economics Prize and is known as "father of the Euro" for his outstanding role in creating the common European currency.

Source: Xinhua