Economy in fast lane amid challenges

China's economy is forecast to be in the fast lane in 2010, but mounting difficulties are still ahead, some leading economists have said.

"The investment and economic growth have gained great momentum, and China's gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to grow at 10 percent year-on-year in 2010," said Hu Angang, director of the Center for China Study of Beijing-based Tsinghua University.

China's GDP expanded 8.9 percent in the third quarter in 2009, accelerating from 7.9 percent in the second quarter and 6.1 percent in the first, fueled by the growing domestic consumption and the government's economic stimulus package rolled out since November 2008.