Despite the fast economic growth for years, China still faces huge challenges in its development, said Mohamed El Saket, former ambassador of the Arab League to China.

The challenges include unbalanced economic growth pattern, a widening gap between urban and rural areas and between different regions, environmental problems as well as international trade protectionism, Mohamed El Saket said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"It is clear for all that China has made big achievements in economic, social and political fields, through the implementation of its five-year development plans," he added.

El Saket said thanks to the serious commitment to the implementation of five-year development plans, he expected the per capita GDP in China to reach the levels of the developed nations within the next 20 years.

China's per capita GDP reached more than 3,300 U.S. dollars last year, quadruple that of 2000, but the figure only gave China a 106th place in the world.

The Chinese government has been working to activate development programs and increase its investment in the poverty-stricken areas, he said. El Saket said he believed that China could bridge the gap between the poor and the rich in the coming years.

The former Egyptian diplomat said that China has managed to deal with the global financial crisis with all prudence and wisdom in an admirable manner. Despite the impact of the crisis, the Chinese economy grew by 9.1 percent last year.

The leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Monday ended a meeting to determine the country's development agenda for the next five years with a call to improve living standards nationwide.

A communique issued at the end of the meeting said China aimed to achieve major breakthroughs in economic restructuring and maintain stable and relatively fast economic growth, which is a key target for 2011-2015.