China central bank expects 10% growth

BEIJING - CHINA is likely to see a fifth consecutive year of double-digit growth this year, the central bank said in remarks published yesterday, just weeks after the government called for a slowdown in the economy.

The world's fourth-largest economy will probably expand by 10 per cent this year, compared with 10.7 per cent last year, the central bank's research department said in a report carried by the China Securities Journal.

'The trade surplus is likely to maintain relatively fast growth in the first half but the rising trend should ease in the second half,' the report said.

In a speech to lawmakers earlier this month, Premier Wen Jiabao targeted 8 per cent growth this year.

Analysts almost immediately characterised the target as unrealistic, saying it was mainly meant as a signal to lower-level officials to refrain from going for growth at any cost.