Doubts over economic growth rate
January 31, 2003
Doubts over economic growth rate
At the beginning of 2003, Xinhua published a round-up of forecasts by official and semiofficial economists who forecast economic growth rates of between 7.9 and 8.2 per cent for the year, based on a consensus that the nation's external and internal environment was positive.
However, a week later the Academy of Macro-economic Research under the State Development Planning Commission issued a report saying that economic growth would be affected by a slowdown in investment and
exports compared with 2002, and that the 2003 growth rate would be between 7.5 per cent and 7.8 per cent. This was followed by a warning from the State Economic and Trade Commission that global instability would affect China's exports and that economic growth would slow down this year.