WB ups China GDP rate

Massive policy stimulus should enable China to keep growing at a respectable rate this year and the next, but a robust recovery is unlikely given the weak global environment and softness in non-government investment, the World Bank said yesterday.

In its quarterly update on the world's third-largest economy, the bank raised its forecast for gross domestic product growth this year to 7.2 percent from the 6.5 percent projected in its previous report in March.

The bank welcomed an unfolding surge in government-influenced investment, triggered by Beijing's 4 trillion-yuan stimulus package. And it said more domestic demand was helpful for the world economy.