China's GDP Expected to Rise 8 Percent This Year

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, September 07, 2003

China's GDP Expected to Rise 8 Percent This Year

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China's economy is expected to increase by roughly 8 percent this year on the back of strong investment growth, according to both Chinese and foreign economists, reported the weekend edition of China Daily.

Fan Jianping, a senior economist with the State Information Center's forecasting department, put China's GDP growth this year at 8 percent or even a bit higher and that for year 2004 to be even higher.

"The economy is in a new expansionary circle," Fan was quoted as saying.

World Bank China Program chief economist Deepak Bhattasali put his 2003 forecast between 7.8 percent and 8 percent for the nation's economic growth.

They both agreed that strong investment growth spurred by surging demands for homes and cars was a major force driving the Chinese economy.

According to the reporting, Chinese consumer spending on housing soared by 44 percent in the first seven months over that for the same period of last year while automobile sales skyrocketed by 77 percent.

The demand for houses and cars stimulated demand for upstream products like construction materials and steel, as well as downstream products like finishing materials and home appliances. As a result, fixed assets investment jumped by 33 percent during the January-July period, reported China Daily.

Fan was quoted as saying he did not think the investment growthwas overheated. "They are based on real demand, and the stream of investment is healthy," he said.

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