Shift in China's economy not 'dramatically different': Jack Lew

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[January 21, 2016]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Thursday said despite concerns over China, its economy does not appear to have shifted significantly from where it was in late 2015.

"It's not that dramatically different than when we talked at the end of the year," Lew, speaking from Davos, told CNBC in an interview. "It is not a surprise to see some reduction in industrial output, and the change in their growth rate is not that dramatic."

"The real question for China is a nervousness about will they stick to the policies they need to stick to, and are they making policy in a way that the world understands," he added.

"If they stick to the reform programs that they've announced, they can have a soft landing and level off at a ... rate of growth that is sustainable" he told CNBC. "If they don't, then they have bigger problems."

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Megan Cassella; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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