China economy to grow 9.8% in 2011: Think tank

BEIJING: A Chinese government think tank has forecast the nation's economy will grow around 9.8 percent this year, with inflation likely to come in at 3.7 percent, state media reported Sunday.

Experts at the Chinese Academy of Sciences also predicted that gross domestic product would rev up in the latter part of the year, and would be driven largely by domestic consumption, the official China News Service said.

The consumer price index ( CPI), the main gauge of inflation, would likely be highest in the first quarter of the year due to rising commodity prices and salaries, and would then drop for the remainder of 2011, the report added.

China's economy grew 10.3 percent in 2010, marking the fastest annual pace since the onset of the global crisis, and the CPI rose 3.3 percent, exceeding the government's full-year target of three percent as food costs soared.

Unlike other countries struggling to spur growth, Beijing has been trying to slow its economy and stem a flood of liquidity that is fanning inflation and driving up property prices.

The central bank has raised interest rates twice since October, and has also increased the amount of money banks must keep in reserve, in a bid to curb lending.