Oct. 2, 2006 – Associated Press

BEIJING – The central bank says China’s economy should grow by 10.5 percent this year, state media reported yesterday, even stronger than the 10 percent predicted last week by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The People’s Bank of China also projected growth for the first half of 2007 at 9.5 percent, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

China’s economy grew 10.2 percent in 2005 and surged by 10.9 percent in the first half of 2006.

Growth in domestic investment and exports, however, will ease, Xinhua reported, blaming a slowing global economy and “rising trade frictions” for the impact on exports.

The People’s Bank report also predicted continuing low Chinese inflation rates — 1.5 percent in 2006 and 1.8 percent for the first half of 2007.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

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