|
China’s GDP up 11.5% in first nine months
Beijing—The Chinese economy
continued its robust growth, driven by rapid expansion in investment,
retail sales and exports, while inflation pressure eased slightly,
official figures released on Thursday showed.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased 11.5 percent in the third
quarter from a year earlier for an aggregate growth rate of 11.5 percent
in the first nine months, Li Xiaochao, spokesman for the National Bureau
of Statistics told a press conference in Beijing. He told reporters
investment is the largest contributor to the economy, accounting for
41.6 percent of the growth.
In the first three quarters of 2007, fixed asset investment in the
country soared 25.7 percent to 9.15 trillion yuan, Li said, adding that
investment in properties rose 30.3 percent. The investing spree was
backed by rapid expansion in credit. By the end of September, the total
amount of outstanding loans of all financial institutions jumped by 3.36
trillion yuan from the end of 2006, an increase of 642.2 billion yuan
over the same period last year, according to Li.
Retail sales were another driver of the economy, contributing 37 percent
of the GDP growth, the spokesman said. In the first nine months, the
total retail sales of consumer goods in the country reached 6.38
trillion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 15.9 percent - 2.4 percentage
points higher than a year earlier, according to the press conference.
“Consumption is expected to keep growing rapidly, becoming an important
factor in pushing economic growth,” Li said. Earlier this month in a
work report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of
China, General Secretary Hu Jintao pledged to boost domestic demand in
consumer goods to let retail sales play a bigger role in the economy. Li
attributed the increase in consumption to four factors: rising income
and employment, improvement in social security and consumption
patterns.—Xinhuausiness as a teenager
in a wonton noodle shop. In 2002, Forbes estimated Zhou’s wealth at
about 320 million U.S. dollars.—Xinhua |
