Big jump in China's economic growth
The World Bank today sharply raised its forecast for the expansion of China’s sizzling economy this year to 10.4%, up from its previous estimate of 9.5%.
The bank said it expects Chinese export growth to rise even faster, jumping by 20.8% for the year, while imports expand by 18.4%.
The bank increased its growth forecast after China’s government earlier reported second-quarter growth of 11.3%, surpassing economists’ projections and hitting its fastest rate in a decade.
The forecast was included in a quarterly World Bank report on China’s economic performance.
The bank said China’s current account balance, the broadest measure of its trade in goods and services, was expected to run a 220-billion-dollar surplus this year.
The report comes amid efforts by Chinese leaders to slow down growth in some segments of the economy. They worry that a boom in construction and bank lending could ignite politically dangerous inflation and leave banks and companies with dangerously high debts.
