Iraq war major source of uncertainty for Chinese economy: official
( 2003-03-23 14:16 ) (7 )

The US-led war in Iraq marks the main external source of uncertainty for the Chinese economy this year, Qiu Xiaohua, deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday.

"Currently, the top source of uncertainty coming from the outside is the US war on Iraq," said Qiu, according to the China Youth Daily.

"If the war drags on, the impact is very hard to predict, but it could even influence the recovery of the world economy," he said.

If on the other hand the war is brought to an early conclusion, it could have a limited impact on China and the world, Qiu said.

In the positive scenario of limited fallout from the war, China's economy could grow by up to eight percent this year, he said.

China's economy also gained eight percent in 2002, but so far most official predictions have been for about seven percent growth in 2003.