Asia Times Online - News from greater China; Hong Kong and Taiwan

China

GDP $710.7 billion in first six months, up 9.9%

BEIJING - China's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 5,877.3 billion yuan (US$710.7 billion) in the first six months of 2004, up 9.7% over the same period of last year.

Zheng Jingping, spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics, made the remarks Friday at a press conference.

Meantime, the chief economist at the National Bureau of Statistics, Yao Jingyuan, says China's economy is not overheating. He addressed the third forum of Chinese nationals around the world on Thursday.

Currently investment in Chinese business is heated but consumption remains soft. The industrial sectors are booming while the agriculture and service sectors are not, Yao acknowledged.

In the first quarter of this year, he added, China's fixed asset investments grew 43%, with that of the industrial sector up increasing by 70% and that of agriculture rising only 0.4%.

"So we should not use the word 'overheating' to describe the whole economy," he said, expecting that the Chinese economy will be able to attain a 7% growth this year, lower than last year. The government is trying to cool down key sectors and slow growth.

(Asia Pulse/XIC)

Jul 17, 2004

No material from Asia Times Online may be republished in any form without written permission.

Privacy and Legal Policies