SHANGHAI, April 8: China’s economy will grow by seven to eight per cent annually until 2005 and will stay near that figure for the following five years, a top government economic think tank said on Monday.

The growth forecast was made by the Developmental Research Center of China’s cabinet, the State Council, the Shanghai Securities News reported.

It predicted annual economic growth would hover between 6.4 per cent and 7.8 per cent from 2005 to 2010.

China’s economy grew by 7.3 per cent last year, down from an average 8.3 per cent in the 1995-2000 period.

The current five-year-old fiscal expansion policy was necessary to counter slowing economic growth, but because of China’s structural contradictions and defects, in the long term it would cause problems, they said.

For the last three years, the government has issued $18 billion annually in special treasury bills in an effort to stimuland by pouring money into infrastructure construction and technical improvements at state-owned industries.—AFP