"The short term outlook for the region is bleak as the full impact of the severe recession in industrialized economies is transmitted to emerging markets, " said Jong-Wha Lee, acting chief economist for the ADB.

CNN: Asian economic outlook 'bleak' for 2009

Jong-Wha Lee and Kiseok Hong of the Asian Development Bank project that if China continues its structural reforms, it has the potential to grow at 7 percent in 2011-2020 and 6.23 percent in 2021-2030.

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From almost 40% a decade ago, it fell to 27% in 2008, according to a recent paper by Soyoung Kim of Seoul National University, as well as Jong-Wha Lee and Cyn-Young Park of the Asian Development Bank.

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