WB: China aims for soft landing

China.org.cn, April 13, 2012

A new World Bank report projects that GDP growth in China will be 8.2 percent in 2012 and 8.6 percent in 2013, China.org.cn reported. The China Quarterly Update, released yesterday, says that the prospects for a gradual adjustment of growth remain high.

※"China's gradual slowdown is expected to continue into 2012, as consumption growth slows somewhat, investment growth decelerates more pronouncedly and external demand remains weak," says Ardo Hansson, Lead Economist for China. "The risks of overheating are moderating, increasing the prospects to achieve a soft landing." 

※The China Quarterly Update, a regular assessment of China's economy, identifies the need to facilitate a soft landing and sustain growth as the key short-term policy challenges. Key risk factors include the weak and uncertain growth prospects of high-income economies and the evolution of the ongoing correction in China's property markets. Sufficient policy space exists to respond to downside risks, but any policy response would need to be carefully crafted keeping in mind longer-term effects and objectives.