Chinese Economy to Grow 6.7% This Year, National Think Tank Says

Shao Haipeng

(Yicai Global) May 15 — China’s economy is on track to grow at a rate of 6.7 percent this year, slightly slower than 2017 but still surpassing its 6.5-percent goal, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The country will make progress in its structural reform with the employment rate and prices remaining essentially stable, the academy said in a blue paper published yesterday, adding that there will be no ‘hard landing,’ a term used to refer to a significant downturn after rapid economic expansion.

Growth in the current cycle peaked in April 2017, according to the blue paper, which said the economic expansion declined for eight straight months from then. Development will continue to slow with occasional fluctuations this year given a slow economic recovery worldwide and China’s push for a supply-side structural reform.

The academy’s quarterly predictions for economic growth throughout this year are 6.8 percent in the first, 6.7 percent in the second, 6.7 percent in the third and 6.6 percent in the fourth.

The producer price index is also likely to rise somewhat, pushing up the consumer price index by around 2.4 percent over the year, it added.

Editor: James Boynton