Hu, meeting with business leaders on a visit to Peru, said that major indicators such as investment and exports were still healthy.

"Economic growth has encountered challenges," acknowledged Hu, who is in Lima for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.

But he added: "We can overcome these difficulties and manage to maintain fast but stable economic growth."

China's growth, which soared by 12 percent last year, slowed to 9.0 percent in the third quarter this year, dragged down by economic slowdowns in key export markets such as the United States, Europe and Japan.

China has put together a four trillion yuan (586 billion dollar) stimulus package to shore up the economy, which for years had shown no signs of letting up as the country turned into the world's manufacturing hub.

Hu had used his visit to resource-rich Latin America to shore up markets for China, which is hungry for natural resources to fuel its growth.

On Wednesday, China completed negotiations on a free-trade agreement with Peru, just after Hu agreed to start talks on another such pact with Costa Rica.

Hu said that China was particularly interested in Peru's mines, in which Chinese companies are already heavy invested.

"There is potential for massive cooperation," Hu said.

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