BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday that stabilising growth was a
"top priority", after fresh data raised more worries of a slowdown in
the world's second-largest economy.
"As a big developing country, a certain
speed of economic growth must be maintained," Wen said. "Stabilising
economic growth is not only a top priority, but also a long-term arduous
task."
His comments came shortly after the
government reported that demand for imports fell more sharply than expected in
June, leading to a widening of the trade surplus and stoking concerns about an
economic slowdown.
A day earlier China said inflation slowed in
June to its lowest level in 29 months, giving the government more flexibility
in its efforts to reboot the economy.
Wen said encouraging domestic consumption,
diversifying exports and boosting government investment would provide drivers
for growth.
"Currently, it is important to promote
reasonable growth in investment," he said in a statement.
His remarks came just three days before China
is due to announce economic growth figures for the second quarter.
China's economy grew an annual 8.1 percent in
the first quarter of 2012 -- its slowest pace in nearly three years.
Economists expect the economy to have grown
7.6 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to a poll by
Dow Jones Newswires.
China early this year set an annual economic
growth target of 7.5 percent, down from expansion of 9.2 percent last year and
10.4 percent in 2010.
Among the measures already taken to avert a
hard landing, the government last week cut interest rates for the second time
in a month.
The government has also cut reserve
requirements -- the amount of money banks must hold in reserve -- three times
since December last year.
Top leaders have urged a move away from
exports and the promotion of domestic consumption as the key engine of economic
growth.
The nation's trade surplus hit US$31.73
billion in June, up 42.9 percent from the same month last year, the General
Administration of Customs said on Tuesday.
While exports for the month rose 11.3 percent
year-on-year to US$180.21 billion, imports climbed just 6.3 percent to reach
US$148.48 billion, according to the government's data.
"While exports increased at a low level,
growth of imports was sharply slower than exports as domestic demand declined
due to China's slowing economy," customs spokesman Zheng Yuesheng told
reporters.
Compared with May, exports in June declined
0.5 percent and imports were down 8.9 percent.
"The data overall suggest that domestic
investment and global growth are slowing," Alaistair Chan, an economist
with Moody's Analytics, said in a research report.
Slowing domestic growth would prompt China to
further ease monetary policy while at the same time boosting investment,
analysts said.
Wen's remarks on Tuesday came after he warned
at the weekend that the country's economy faced "downward pressure"
and called for more aggressive moves to keep growth on track.
"There may be one interest rate cut and
two cuts in the banks' reserve requirement ratio in the second half." said economist, Liao Qun.
- AFP/ir
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