Chinese policy makers meet this week in Beijing to discuss the next five-year plan. The suggestion is they will focus on improving the quality of economic growth rather than the pace. That could mean China’s 12th Five-Year Plan, covering 2011 to 2015, will signal the end of an era of explosive growth.
Howard Gorges, vice chairman at South China Brokerages, said, “China realizes that the 10% economic growth target could lead to overheating and is sometimes wasteful. It’s more manageable to grow at 8%.”
Citigroup, Credit Suisse and UBS all expect China to cut its GDP growth target to 7% during the next five-year plan.
MarketWatch reports Merrill Lynch, however, expects actual growth to average about 8.5% during the period, slower than the annual expansion of more than 11% achieved in the four-year period from 2006 to 2009.
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