While there is no doubt that China's economic growth is deccelerating, its short-term challenges belie a great deal of long-term potential, said Deputy Prime Minister Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Though there is risk involved in China's reform package, it still has "significant upside" and the country holds tremendous potential for the rest of Asia, he added.

Mr Tharman was speaking at the Singapore Management University's inaugural China Forum, held on Wednesday.

"Convergence remains a story that has yet to be written, and China intends to write that story," said Mr Tharman.

China's Communist Party has just ended a four-day meeting known as the Third Plenum yesterday, which pledged to deepen reform and grant markets a "decisive" role.

China's leaders said they would enact fiscal and land reforms, relax investment controls and give markets a more important rol.