China economist sees 2010 GDP up 9.5 percent
China's gross domestic product growth is likely to grow about 9.5 percent in 2010, largely driven by strong domestic consumption and corporate investment, a government researcher said in remarks published on Monday.
Zhang Liqun, an economist at the Development Research Center, a think-tank under the State Council, said he saw little chance of serious inflationary pressure this year; the headline consumer price index (CPI) was likely to rise at most 3 percent.
I expect domestic consumption to grow at a fairly fast pace this year on the back of consistent policies to boost car and owner-occupied home sales, Zhang was quoted as saying by the official China Securities Journal.
China's GDP last year grew 8.7 percent. The median 2010 GDP forecast of economists polled by Reuters last week was 9.5 percent, the same as Zhang's.
Zhang said enterprises would take the baton from the government to drive fixed-asset investment, which would rise about 20 percent this year compared with 30.1 percent in 2009.
He said the generally weak dollar could raise the cost of global commodities, boosting China's factory gate inflation.
But I think the rise in producer prices will only add to corporate costs and not pass through to consumer prices, he said. The CPI rose 1.9 percent in the 12 months to December but fell 0.7 percent on average in 2009.
(Reporting by Aileen Wang and Alan Wheatley; Editing by Ken Wills)
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