Posted on 11 Nov 2008
The Chinese economy is expected to grow by between eight and nine percent next year, state press reported on Monday, citing central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan.
China's steady growth would help the international financial markets go "back to normal", Zhou said on the sidelines of a meeting of key financial officials of the Group of 20 in Sao Paulo, according to the Xinhua news agency.
He said the central bank was closely monitoring the developments in the global financial markets to decide its next interest rate policies, the report said.
Growth of the heavily export-dependent Chinese economy eased to nine percent in the third quarter of this year, the lowest in more than five years.
The nation's trade surplus dropped 2.6 percent in the first nine months of 2008, making it very likely that overall economic growth this year will slip into single digits for the first time since 2002.
The G20 includes the seven leading economies and key developing nations.
