The risks facing China’s economy are not “scary”, President Xi Jinping has told global business leaders.

In a speech to chief executives ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit he sought to dispel concerns about the economy.

“There are indeed risks (to growth), but it’s not so scary,” he said.

China also announced a deepening of its energy ties with Russia, with the countries agreeing a major new gas pipeline linking the two nations.

Apec is expected to be the venue to announce several international deals among Asia-Pacific nations. On Sunday, Mr Xi pledged $40bn to improve trade links with other nations in the region.

The world’s second largest economy has had a tough year, held back by a contraction in the property market, slower consumer demand, and unsteady exports.

But Mr Xi pointed out that even if China’s economy were to grow by 7%, that would still rank it at the forefront of the world’s economies.

He said the economy remained “stable”.

Official figures released on Saturday showed that growth in exports and imports slowed in October. Annual growth slowed to 7.3% in the third quarter of 2014, the weakest since the height of the global financial crisis.

In a bid to bolster growth, the government has accelerated spending on infrastructure projects, while the central bank has injected money into bank to improve credit supply and cut mortgage rates for some homebuyers.

Mr Xi said China’s economic and social reforms would take time to have an impact, but were irreversible.