Slowing down? China’s GDP may grow only 9.1%
Moves taken by Beijing earlier in the year to rein in the overheating economy could cause China's economic growth slow to 9.1% for the second quarter of 2005, according to China's State Information Center. The country also expects to see a cooling down in inflation and investments. China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 9.6% in the second quarter of 2004 and 9.4% in the first quarter of 2005. Several economists expect China's consumer price index (CPI), a major indicator of inflation, to rise nearly 2.0% in the second quarter. CPI had risen 3.6% a year earlier. The growth of fixed-asset investment is expected to hover around 20%, about 11.5% points less than a year ago and 2.8% points less than the previous quarter.