China's 2010 GDP grows 10%, CPI 3.3%: Experts

China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to surpass 10 percent in 2010, and the growth of the consumer price index (CPI) is likely to have hit 3.3 percent, China Securities Journal reported Tuesday, citing estimations from the economists.

According to the report, China's GDP surged 10.6 percent in the first three quarters of 2010, and the fourth quarter is believed to have witnessed a nine-percent hike.

Overseas market demand is a major reason for China's accelerating economic growth, the report said.

Domestic demand is expected to contribute about 7.5 percentage points when calculating the country's GDP, with the overseas demand adding another 2.5 percentage points, said Zhang Liqun, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council. The contribution rate of overseas demand was negative 3.7 percentage points in 2009, Zhang said.

Wang Tao, UBS Securities' chief economist in China, also estimated that the GDP increase in the fourth quarter of 2010 was likely to have reached 9.1 percent, and the annual GDP growth rate is likely to hit 10.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the growth of the CPI, the main gauge of inflation, is also believed to have hit 3.3 percent in 2010, according to the newspaper.

The hike in the CPI was reported below five percent in December, lower than November's 28-month high of 5.1 percent, the report cited information from the National Development and Reform Commission as saying.

With the GDP and CPI both exceeding their annual targets, taming inflation will be the government's focus in the short run, the report said.

The National Bureau of Statistics will release major economic data for 2010 before the end of January 2011, it said.
(Source:china daily)