China's economy is expected to grow about 8 percent this year, the State Information Center (SIC) said in a report released Thursday.

The SIC forecast the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, would decline about 0.5 percent in 2009 from a year earlier, while the producer price index would fall 5 percent year on year.

The report said imports were predicted to shrink 16 percent and exports by 17.5 percent year on year. The annual trade surplus would reach 220 billion US dollars, down from 295.5 billion US dollars in 2008.

However, the report said the SIC believed no further stimulus measures beyond the 4-trillion yuan (585.7 billion US dollars) economic stimulus package were necessary.

The government should focus on enhancing the implementation of the existing stimulus policies and cultivating new areas to boost economic growth, it said.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 9 percent in the third quarter last year, then slumped to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter and to 6.1 percent in the first quarter this year. It is due to release its second-quarter GDP data in mid-July.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2009)