Pedestrians walk at the Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone in Shanghai, China Jan. 13, 2009. Shanghai is hoping to score a nine percent increase in gross domestic product (GDP) this year, said Mayor Han Zheng Tuesday while delivering a work report to the annual meeting of the municipal people's congress. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's gross domestic
product (GDP) is expected to drop to 8.4 percent this year from last year's 9.1
percent, but the country remains an engine for East Asia and even for global
growth, according to a forecast report released by United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) on Friday in Beijing.
The report also made an optimistic forecast of 8.9
percent and a worst-case 7 percent. UN economists said China's economy might
slow to 7 percent if the global credit crisis continued to linger, the recession
in Europe and the United States deepened and fiscal responses delayed.
The government set the goal of 8 percent growth this
year at the Central Economic Work Conference held on Dec. 8.
The report said China contributed to about 22 percent
of the global growth in 2008, and would likely to contribute a higher proportion
this year, as most developed economies had been draggedin to recession.
East Asia would experience a continuing economic
deceleration with the region's 2009 GDP growth expected to fall to 6 percent
from 6.9 percent in 2008 due to weakening trade with Europe and the United
States, according to report.
Growth of the world economy was expected to fall to 1
percent from 2.5 percent in 2008.
The report forecast the U.S. economy would decline 1
percent and Europe 0.7 percent this year, compared with 2008 growth of
1.2percent and 1.1 percent respectively.
UN economists said the global decline would have been
bigger without the continued strong growth in China's domestic final demand.
However, China's slowing foreign trade curtailed its
previously robust economic growth. The country's GDP growth rate for 2007 was
revised to 13 percent from 11.9 percent on Wednesday.
The General Administration of Customs reported
Tuesday that China's exports and imports declined for a second consecutive month
in December, reflecting weakening external and domestic demand.
Exports fell 2.8 percent from a year earlier to
111.16 billion U.S. dollars, while imports fell 21.3 percent to 72.18 billion
U.S. dollars.
Zhu Baoliang, vice director of the State Information
Center said, "The 9.1 percent in 2008 is still impressive growth, and China
remains the powerhouse for the world economy."
Wang Tongsan, director of the Institute of
Quantitative and Technical Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
was confident that the country would achieve the goal of 8 percent growth.
He said China had rushed out a series of plans to
sustain the economy and was considering more measures to take effect in the
second half.
China launched a fiscal stimulus package of 4
trillion yuan (586 billion U.S. dollars) to boost domestic demand in both
infrastructure investment and consumption during 2009 and 2010.
The central bank had cut interest rates five times
and reduced the deposit reserve ratio four times since September 2008 to sustain
economy.
Plans to boost automobile and steel sectors, the
"pillar industries", were rolled out on Wednesday, and more specific measures
for manufacturing and the oil refining industry are expected.
The report said with 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars in
foreign exchange reserves and balanced books, China had enough policy space to
adopt more expansionary fiscal policy necessary for stimulating domestic demand,
to offset the severe drop in exports.
GENEVA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The world economy could grow
by 1.0percent in 2009, a sharp deceleration from the 2.5 percent growth
estimated for 2008 and well below the more robust growth of previous years,
according to a UN report released on Thursday.
But in a more pessimistic scenario, the size of the global
economy would actually decline in 2009, an occurrence not witnessed since the
1930s, said the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009. Full story
BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council
unveiled a long-awaited support package for the auto and steel sectors Wednesday
to boost the two "pillar industries".
Under the plan, the government will lower the purchase tax
on cars under 1.6 liters from 10 percent to 5 percent from Jan. 20 to Dec. 31 in
a bid to stimulate sales. Full story
BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's economy will start to
recover in the second half of the year as the massive fiscal stimulus takes
effect, renowned economist Cheng Siwei told a conference on innovation here
Thursday.
The economy will regain full steam in 2011, according to
Cheng, former Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress. Full story
BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The General Office of the
State Council, or Cabinet, on Sunday unveiled more details of a real-estate
stimulus package adopted at an executive meeting of the Council last Wednesday.
The document, called A Number of Opinions Concerning
Boosting Healthy Development of the Property Market, was posted on the central
government's official website. It emphasized low-income housing and home
ownership. Full story
