It's likely that China's economy will keep a moderate growth of 9.5 percent in 2007 with the fixed asset investment up 20 percent over 2006, the latest report by the State Information Center (SIC) suggests.  

 

According to the SIC, the growth of the three main engines driving the Chinese economy -- exports, consumption and investment -- will slow down by various degrees.

 

Fixed asset investment is expected to hit 13.45 trillion yuan (US$1.7 trillion) in 2007. This is up 20 percent but 6.5 percentage points lower than predicted for 2006.

 

China's fixed asset investment rose to 7.19 trillion yuan (US$914.6 billion) in the first nine months of this year, which is up 27.3 percent over the same period of 2005, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

 

And the volume of retail sales will reach 8.59 trillion yuan (US$1.1 trillion) in 2007, a nominal growth of 12.5 percent, which is 1.1 percentage points lower than the predicted whole-year growth rate for 2006.

 

Exports will increase by 15 percent in 2007. This is 9.5 percentage points lower than in 2006.

 

The trade surplus is expected to reach US$177 billion, which is US$30 billion more than that of 2006.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2006)