In a statement issued on Wednesday, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) said that China’s real gross domestic product (GDP) is
projected to average around 9 percent in 2004 and slow to about 7.5
percent in 2005.
In April, the IMF estimated that GDP growth would be 8.5 percent
this year and 8 percent next year.
“Executive Directors commended the Chinese authorities for their
skillful economic management, which has reduced the risk of
overheating and further strengthened the Chinese economy,” the IMF
said in a statement nearly a month after its Executive Board
concluded an annual review of China’s economy.
The statement said, “Efforts to rein in credit and slow
investment appear to have started to bear fruit, as evidenced by
the recent signs of moderating economic expansion.”
The IMF indicated that the main challenge ahead is to harness
the strong potential for sustained economic expansion while
maintaining macro-economic equilibrium and achieving sound, broadly
based economic development.
It said that the Chinese authorities must speed up reforms in
key areas including banks, state-owned enterprises and labor
markets to achieve a controlled deceleration.
“A crucial short-term concern is that despite the recent
indications of moderation in the fast pace of investment and
economic growth, a soft landing of the economy is not yet assured,”
it added.
A soft landing implies a slowdown in booming economic growth
that avoids degenerating into a slump.
(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2004)?