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China predicts 9.3 percent economic growth
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-11 15:01
China's economy will grow
by 9.3 percent this year, the government forecast Thursday, amid efforts to tame the
economic boom.
China's gross domestic product for 2004
is forecast to increase to 13.4 trillion yuan, said the State
Information Center.
Meanwhile, the National Statistics Bureau said that the producer price
index, a leading indicator for consumer price movements, jumped at an annual
rate of 8.4 percent in October. The index, which measures the cost of goods used
in production, rose 7.9 percent year-over-year in September.
The bureau cited higher prices for crude oil, coal, steel and nonferrous
metal prices as major factors behind the rise.
China's consumer price index, the country's main indicator for inflation,
rose 5.2 percent in September, remaining near a seven-year high. The figure for
October has not yet been released.
The government has
sought to curb bank lending to property developers and ordered
local governments to reduce construction projects, hoping to rein surging investment that is fueling
inflation.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce reported that China recorded a trade
surplus in October of US$7.1 billion, the sixth straight month of surpluses.
However imports also grew faster than expected, underpinned by rapid
economic expansion.
Imports in October totaled US$45.43 billion, up 29.3
percent from a year ago, while exports grew at a 28.5 percent annual rate to
US$52.53 billion, it said.
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