Posted on 21 Jul 2009
The Chinese economy expanded 7.9 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, as massive pump-priming and record lending pushed for a rebound from the worst growth figures in a decade, official data showed Thursday.
GDP grew 7.1 per cent from the same period a year ago to 13.99 trillion yuan (US$2.06 trillion) in the first half, after the world's third largest economy tumbled to 6.1 per cent in the first three months, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Asian Development Bank senior economist Zhuang Jian said Thursday that the full-year growth of eight per cent was within reach, as the hefty government spending had countered the impact of tumbling exports.
He expected the economy to expand at around nine per cent in the second half. Benefiting from the massive government spending in the construction of railways, roads and infrastructure, urban fixed asset investment rose 33.6 per cent in the first half, the largest increase in five years.
