China is in a critical period of “strategic opportunity”, and its economic upward trend in the long run remains unchanged, Cai Mingzhao, the spokesman of the upcoming 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, said on Wednesday.

Cai said that the series of measures adopted by the central government since May to support economic growth have boosted investors’ confidence and helped the economy to stabilize.

“The key economic indicators suggest that economic growth is stabilizing and is starting to demonstrate some positive changes,” Cai told a press conference. “As more policies are implemented, we are hopeful that China’s economy will be further stabilized.”

Cai also highlighted a number of challenges that the country faces, including the slow recovery of the global economy, fiercer international competition, rising protectionism, as well as the unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development of the domestic economy.

“Generally, China is still in a critical period of ‘strategic opportunity’, and the country’s upward trend in the long run is still unchanged,” Cai said. “China’s potential domestic demand remains tremendous.”