Report: China growth to speed up in 2013

CHINA'S economic growth may accelerate to 8.2 percent next year from this year's expected 7.7 percent in response to supportive policies, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said yesterday.

In a report, it said the country should stabilize investment as a direct and effective measure to bolster short-term growth.

It echoed recent optimism about a rebound after a seven-quarter economic slowdown and predicted strengthening recovery in 2013.

"We are cautiously optimistic about the outlook for next year," said Pei Changhong, director of the academy's Economic Research Institute. "We should be alert to possible downside risk in trade and be prepared with enough policies,"

China can fulfill all economic targets this year except that for trade, Pei said. In the first 10 months, China's bilateral trade expanded 6.3 percent from a year earlier, behind the 10 percent goal set at the start of the year.

The report said China had enough fiscal and monetary room to unveil further policies to stabilize economic growth when necessary.

China will keep its macroeconomic policies stable, the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee said on Tuesday.

"It signaled that China's top leaders believe the economy has stabilized, which means the government may not push for a large-scale stimulus in 2013," said Zhang Zhiwei, an economist at Nomura.

Other messages from the meeting included the support of consumption and investment to bolster domestic demand, the orderly acceleration of urbanization, and no loosening in property restrictions.

There are already signs of a growth revival, including improved industrial production, fixed-asset investment and retail sales since September.

Activities in both the manufacturing and service sectors expanded at a quicker pace in October, and the China Wealth Index, compiled by the Bank of Communications to gauge confidence among Chinese households, also recovered quickly.

It stood at 117 in November, ending the deterioration since May and compared with September's 113. Above 100 indicates optimism.

The index, released every two months, interviewed 1,944 households in major cities.

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