 Shoppers are still seeing prices grow considerably |
The rate of China's economic growth will slow slightly in 2007 because of a slight fall in export growth, a World Bank report has predicted. In a quarterly update, it said it expected growth to be 9.6% this year, compared with 10.6% in 2006.
Export growth was likely to decline to 20%, from 24% in 2006, the Bank said.
Separately, official figures showed that Chinese consumer inflation slowed in January to an annual rate of 2.2% from the 2.8% rise seen in December.
"A resilient world economy means that export demand prospects remain good, although less buoyant than in 2006," the World Bank report said.
It added that investment in China was "unlikely to slow drastically" in early 2007, while consumption should grow "solidly".
Pressure
The inflation data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that food, which accounts for a third of items in the consumer basket used to measure inflation, rose 5%.
The month-on-month inflation figure of 0.7% increases pressure on China's central bank to raise interest rates, economists have said.
Earlier this week, a government think-tank said the pace of Chinese economic growth was expected to slow to an annual rate of 10.2% in the first quarter of 2007.
The body said the consumer price index would increase 3% in the first quarter and 3.5% percent in the second, as more expensive animal food pushed the cost of pork and poultry higher.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
