¡¡¡¡BANGKOK, Oct. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- China's economy continued to grow fast in the first half of 2003 despite the negative impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), thanks to strong performance in foreign trade, a steady rise of consumer demand and more foreign direct investment (FDI), said an annual report issued here on Friday by the Economic Committee of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

¡¡¡¡In contrast to "a hesitant recovery" for the global economy, China's economy registered a year-on-year growth of 8.2 percent in the first half this year, with a robust 9.9 percent growth in the first quarter, and is predicted to grow around 7 percent for the whole of 2003, said the report titled "2003 APEC Economic Outlook," which will be submitted to the APEC ministerial meeting on Saturday.

¡¡¡¡The APEC economic committee is APEC's core analytical body, which also serves as a forum for member economies to exchange information, views and analyses on economic issues in the region.

¡¡¡¡The 366-page annual report provides an overview of the macroeconomic situation of the region for this year, explains the factors that contributed to the growth prospect and makes a forecast of how the region will perform next year.

¡¡¡¡In the first six months of the year, China's foreign trade volume reached 376.1 billion US dollars, up 39 percent over the same period of last year, while the export grew 34 percent and import rose 44.5 percent, said the report.

¡¡¡¡According to the document, the actual value of utilization of FDI by China amounted to 30.3 billion dollars in the period, up 34 percent over 2002, according to the document.

¡¡¡¡Pointing to SARS, the report said that SARS did have some negative impact on China's economy, mainly in the travel and tourism sectors, with the second quarter growth dipping to 6.7 percent. The overall economic performance in China is still "very robust," it added.

¡¡¡¡Turning to 2002, the report said that China's economy performed well with an 8 percent increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), due to continued stimulation of domestic demand and the implementation of a proactive fiscal policy and stable monetary policy.

¡¡¡¡As to the world economy, the report, citing predictions by major institutions, said the global economic growth rates for the whole of 2003 should be 2.0 percent to 2.5 percent, and 3.5 percent for 2004, compared to 2.4 percent in 2002.

¡¡¡¡"As the situation in Iraq has stabilized and SARS has been brought under effective control, we expect the global economy to gradually regain strengthen, heading for another US-led rebound over this year and the next," said the report.

¡¡¡¡The US economy is expected to improve gradually in the coming months and rebound strongly by the end of this year. "North America's recovery should provide enough impetus to boost economicgrowth in the rest world, particularly in Asia (excluding Japan) and Oceania," the report said. Enditem

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