China's economy continued to grow rapidly in the past year as the government took necessary measures to curb overheating sectors, according to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) report released in Santiago on Thursday.

China's GDP in 2003 reached US$1,409.91 billion, an increase of 9.1 percent in real terms, and 1.1 percent higher growth than in 2002, the report, APEC Economic Outlook 2004, said.

"Investment in fixed assets enjoyed a relatively substantial growth. It was particularly noteworthy that over-investment in some industries has been contained by macroeconomic measures taken by the Chinese government," it said.

APEC Economic Committee Chair Choong Yong Ahn said that the Chinese government is trying to contain overheating economy in order to guide the economy to "soft landing."

Ahn, whose committee is responsible for publishing the report, told a news briefing that China's economy is expected to see "soft landing" because the Chinese government has taken tough monetary and concerned economic policies for control of economic overheating.

The annual report gave an overall picture of the Chinese economy.

The investment "in fixed assets for the whole economy" in 2003 reached US$665.94 billion. Consumption demand "went up steadily with the continued improvements in living standards." The total retail sales of consumer goods were US$553.87 billion, an annual growth of 9.1 percent.

When measured in price factor, the report said, China's growth rate reaches 9.2 percent. "In 2004, China's economy is expected to maintain sound growth."

Based on in-depth analysis, the APEC Economic Committee concluded in the report that China's macro-economic regulation has had four main effects: the rapid growth of investment is slowing down gradually overall and, the rate of increase in real estate has fallen distinctly; in April, newly-started projects were brought under control; the growth in monetary credit fell substantially; the problem of bottlenecks in the economies development have begun to be tackled.

The report also pointed out that various problems in some important industries and for some products should be addressed comprehensively.

China, it said, is expected to achieve optimal allocation of resources and balance between supply and demand so as to get rid of too rapid growth of those industries and products.

The APEC Economic Outlook, which usually submitted at the annual APEC meeting week in October or November, summarizes recent developments and short-term prospects of all APEC member economies: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

This year, Chile hosts all APEC meetings including the final ministerial meeting and 12th informal summit in Santiago.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2004)