Growth Goal ObtainableChina's economy grew by 7.6 per cent during the first three quarters of this year compared with the same time last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, according to Chinadaily.Preliminary figures suggest that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) rose to 6.7 trillion yuan (US$810 billion) from January to September. "China's economy continued to develop at a fast pace due to a series of policies designed to stimulate domestic demand in light of the global economic slowdown,'' said Li Xiaochao, a statistics bureau spokesman. From January to September, fixed asset investment reached 2.1 trillion yuan (US$255.7 billion), an increase of 15.8 per cent. Retail sales of consumer goods totalled 2.7 trillion yuan (US$322.8 billion), an increase of 10.1 per cent year-on-year. Consumer prices also rose 1 per cent during the first nine months of the year, compared with the same time last year. Li conceded that despite these increases, overall economic growth is slowing. That is partly because the stagnating US economy is having a rippling effect on China and the rest of the world. Since much of China's goods are exported to the United States, China's export system, in particular, is starting to suffer, Li said. He said that China's exports rose 11.3 per cent in the first half of the year, but only 7 per cent when looking at the first three quarters. China's trade surplus amounted to US$13.6 billion, a decrease of US$5.6 billion from the same time last year. And China's third-quarter GDP growth was just 7 per cent, compared with the 7.8 per cent growth it experienced in the second quarter and the whopping 8.1 per cent it recorded in the first quarter. Even so, Li said he remains confident that China will achieve its targeted economic growth rate of 7 per cent for the entire year. "The faster growth seen in the first three quarters has laid a solid foundation for achieving that target,'' he said. The country also will take other measures to ensure that goal is met, including raising civil servants' salaries to encourage domestic demand in the fourth quarter of this year, Li said. "Although we're facing the challenges brought on by the global economic slowdown, as long as we stay calm and try hard to increase exports the annual economic growth target of 7 per cent will be obtainable,'' he said. Earlier, a report by a task force assigned to analyze China's economic situation under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that China could expect a GDP growth of 7.5 per cent in 2001. The report also predicted that in 2002, the GDP growth rate would be about 7 per cent to 8 per cent or even higher than that of the previous year provided no major national or world political crisis or natural disaster occurs |
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