IMF says China is managing transition to steadier and more sustainable economic growth

The International Monetary Fund says that so far, China is successfully managing a transition to slower but more stable growth.

In its annual checkup of the world's second-biggest economy, the IMF predicted the Chinese economy will grow 6.8 percent this year and 6.3 percent in 2016, unchanged from earlier forecasts. China registered 7.4 percent growth last year.

The IMF sees the deceleration as part of a deliberate government plan to wean China from overdependence on exports and often-wasteful investment in real estate and factories and toward slower, steadier growth built on consumer spending.

The fund again praised China's decision this week to give market forces more influence in setting the value of its currency, the yuan. It also predicted that a recent sell-off in Chinese stocks won't damage China's economy.