Economic growth goes beyond experts' expectation

Chinanews, Beijing, July 20 – During the first half of this year, Chinese GDP reached 10.68 trillion yuan, 11.5% more than the same period last year. Economic growth in the second quarter reached 11.9%, the highest point during the first half of the year. Fixed assets investment increased by 25.9% during the first half of the year, 2.2 percentage points higher than in the first quarter, according to information released by the National Statistics Bureau on Thursday.
The macro economic growth has exceeded experts' previous expectations.
Earlier, most economists predicted that macro economic growth rate might stand around 9-10.5% this year, a level lower than the economic growth rate of last year. The newly released figures show that Chinese economy, which managed o keep a double-digit growth for the past four years, has shown no sign of slowing down.
“The economy is at high risk of becoming overheated, ”said Zhang Yongjun from the State Information Center.
Meanwhile, the latest figures show that during the first half of the year, CPI increased by 3.2% compared with the same period last year. In particular, CPI figure in June increased by 4.4%, hitting a new high after it reached the highest point in October 2004.
Before these figures were released, market speculation had already painted a gloomy picture of the macro economic performance. Analysts worry that once the CPI figures are publicized, it will evoke some new macro control measures, which might further affect the stock market performance. Most market analysts are concerned about the possible interest rate raise, a measure that might probably come after CPI figures are announced.