China's economy is estimated to have grown more than 10% in the first half of this year and will "possibly" grow more than 9% for the full year, Qiu Xiaohua, director of the National Bureau of Statistics told The Wall Street Journal. Qiu said the country's huge trade surplus and its rapid fixed-asset investment and loan growth remain concerns despite China's favorable economic performance. Qiu also said he expects inflation to grow moderately in the second half and push up the consumer price index to around 2% in 2006. Official economic data for the first half will be issued around July 18 after a review. China's average annual GDP growth rate is set to be higher than the official target of 7.5% in the years through 2010, Qiu said.
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