Edmund Phelps(R), an American economist and the winner of the 2006 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences attends the Boao Forum for Asia 2013 Annual Conference, which runs from April 6 to April 8. [Gong Jie/China.org.cn]

U.S. employers hired at the slowest pace in nearly a year in March, adding only 88,000 jobs to non-farm payrolls, with steep job cuts in the retail and government sectors, including 12,000 with the U.S. Postal Service, according to a Labor Department report released Friday.

"There is no question about the U.S. recovery, but the question is how far we will recover," says Edmund Phelps, an American economist and the winner of the 2006 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He made the remarks during the Boao Forum for Asia 2013 Annual Conference, which runs from April 6 to April 8 in Hainan, China.

However, he believes the U.S. economy may not be as strong as it used to be, as scientific innovations are not as good as it used to be. "We are now in recovery from the crisis, but we are seeing a decline in innovation", says Edmund Phelps. According to Phelps, the recovery is not stable because some fundamental problems still exist within the U.S. economy. Scientific innovation is key for the U.S. economic recovery in the long run. Without that, the recovery is not stable and cannot be sustainable.

Edmund Phelps also encourages China to innovate. He says it’s not necessary for China to import technology from Western countries because these are running out of technology to transfer. According to Phelps, innovation is key for the long-term development of China’s economy. He believes universities are the origins for innovation and he encourages students to be self-employed instead of becoming public servants.

Edmund Phelps(R), an American economist and the winner of the 2006 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences attends the Boao Forum for Asia 2013 Annual Conference, which runs from April 6 to April 8. [Gong Jie/China.org.cn]

Edmund Phelps is the 2006 Nobel Laureate in Economics, dean of the New Huadu Business School at Minjiang University in Fuzhou, and director of Columbia’s Center on Capitalism and Society.

This year's forum is intended to promote the Asian tradition of seeking win-win results, as well as to help regional economies look for common ground, transcend differences and pursue common development. More than ten state and government leaders from Asia and other regions will be invited to the three-day forum, which will begin on April 6 in Boao, a coastal town in southern China's Hainan Province.