In infrastructure, more than 12 million buildings were damaged in the earthquake-affected areas. The damaged power transmission lines added up to 1,978 kilometers. Nearly 2,300 dams, including two large ones and 28 medium ones, were damaged. The quake has wrecked 22,000 kilometers of road and tunnels, affecting 21 expressways, 15 interprovincial highways and 2,756 rural roads.

But both the SIC and the World Bank agree that the earthquake, while enormous in human tragedy, won't have a great impact on the wider economy.

"The quake won't change the fundamentals of China's economy and reconstruction work will outweigh the short-term disruption to production. Instead, it may give economic growth a small boost," said the SIC.

According to its study, the 13 counties and cities ravaged by the earthquake in Sichuan Province contributed a total of 0.34 percent to the nation's gross domestic product and the direct losses from the earthquake may trim the gross domestic product by 0.1 percentage point.

But the new demand created by the recovery work is expected to boost the investment ratio by 1.25 percentage points. Together with a boost to consumption, it may lift the nation's GDP by 0.4 percentage point and help power economic growth by a net 0.3 percentage point.

The World Bank also said the quake is expected to have only a moderate impact on China's economy.

"Although the damage to the affected areas is huge, the affected areas account for only a small part of China's economy," it said. "In the face of this kind of natural disaster, China is fortunate to have a large and diverse economy that can continue to function well and that can finance quick reconstruction in the affected areas."

The central and local governments plan to allocate about 170 billion yuan annually through 2010 to fund rebuilding work in the earthquake-hit areas while domestic and foreign donations have reached about 43.7 billion yuan.

The World Bank, however, viewed the relief and reconstruction funding as additional fuel which will boost demand in the economy.

It has also revised the forecast for China's economic growth in 2008 to 9.8 percent from 9.4 percent in a previous report in April.