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Economic growth expected to slow down
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-04-10 09:43
China's national economy slowed down in the first quarter of 2005, amid
worries of overheated growth.
The country's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated at 8.8 percent in the
quarter, much lower than 9.7 percent growth rate in the same period last year,
said the State Information Center in a report released here Friday.
Fixed asset investment would rise 24 percent, a sharp drop compared with 43
percent increase in the same period last year, the report says.
Slowdown of fixed asset investment is the major reason leading to the drop of
GDP growth, said Qi Jingmei, senior economic analyst with the State Information
Center.
Its contribution to economic growth would drop to 57.8 percent in the first
quarter, 16.9 percentage points lower than last year.
Inflationary pressures that had threatened the economy were eased in the
period, said Qi.
The driving force of agriculture to GDP got weaker in the first quarter. Last
year's grain output growth was mainly due to the increase of farming area and
enhancement of productivity.
This year, the agricultural sector will be hard pressed to maintain the same
high growth rate, said Qi.
The growth rate of agriculture would be 3 percent, 3.3 percentage points
lower than the fourth quarter last year, the report says.
"The slowdown of agriculture is another major reason contributing to GDP
growth drop," said Qi.
The growth of industrial output, a major contributor to China's economic
growth, would be 17.2 percent in the first quarter, half a percentage point
lower than last year.
Last year China's economic growth was higher than 9.5 percent. The government
announced this year's targeted economic growth rate is 8 percent.
China's economy has entered a new booming period, Qi said. Change of
consumption structure, urbanization and shift of international manufacturing to
China all contribute to fast economic growth, he said.
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