Nation's GDP up 9.4% on back of spending
By Su Bei (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-21 05:44

Per capita disposable income of urban residents rose 9.8 per cent in real terms to 7,902 yuan (US$974) during the first three quarters, while per capita net income of rural residents rose 11.9 per cent to 2,450 yuan (US$302).

China's fixed-asset investment rose 26.1 per cent year-on-year to 5.7 trillion yuan (US$702.8 billion) during the January-September period, while net exports stood at US$68.3 billion.

The country's economy will continue to grow at a high rate for the rest of this year, Zheng said.

The Asian Development Bank earlier predicted that China's economy would grow 9.2 per cent this year, while the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences forecast it would grow 9.4 per cent. For the whole year, "economic growth should be 9 per cent or slightly higher," Zheng said.

Due to a number of positive factors, China is capable of maintaining high growth rates for a long time, he said, but warned that the economy will also face a number of difficulties such as constraints in energy supplies and weakness in the agriculture sector.