4th-quarter economic growth seen at 8.2%
(SD-Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-13 16:31

China's economic growth would slow to 8.6 percent in the third quarter and to 8.2 percent in the fourth amid government efforts to make growth more sustainable, the China Securities Journal reported.

That would take full-year growth to 8.8 percent, significantly lower than the 9.5 percent seen last year and in 2003, the paper quoted a report by Macroeconomic Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission as saying.

The slower pace of growth would be in accordance with government efforts to adjust macroeconomic controls and would not mean that China would enter a cycle of low economic growth in the coming years, the paper quoted the report as saying.

The property market, which has been a focus of government efforts to cool investment amid rapidly rising prices in major cities, would slow significantly, the paper said, adding there were no assurances that a soft landing in the sector could be achieved.

Export growth would also decelerate significantly, while a tight credit environment would put the brakes on investment, it said.

China had entered a mild slowdown that could last one to two years, a senior official from a powerful government agency said Monday, recommending faster credit growth as an antidote.

China’s gross domestic product in the first half of the year was 9.1 to 9.2 percent higher than a year earlier, estimated Chen Dongqi, deputy director of Macroeconomic Research Institute.

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