BEIJING - The Chinese
economy surged 10.9% year-on-year in the first
half of this year, the National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS) revealed on Tuesday, roaring
ahead despite a range of measures imposed by the
government to ease investment growth.
The six-month growth was
driven by 11.3% growth in the second quarter - the
fastest pace in a decade.
Total gross domestic product between
January and June reached 9.14 trillion yuan
(US$1.14 trillion), NBS spokesman Zheng Jingping
told a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
China's macro-economy presents "obvious
overheating of investment" in the first half of
this year, Wang Xiaoguang, a macroeconomics
professor at the economic research institute of
the National Development and Reform Commission,
told Xinhua.
The NBS said total investment
in roads, factory equipment and
other fixed assets soared
29.8%, an increase of 4.4% from the same period of
last year.
"The overheating is all-round,
in nearly all industries and all regions of the
country," Wang said, urging the government to
tighten macro control to contain the trend.
China's
consumer price index - the main gauge of inflation
and a key factor in determining the temperature of
the economy - rose 1.4% in the second quarter of
the year compared with the same period in
2005.
The bureau also confirmed data
released last week showing China's trade surplus
hit a record US$61.4 billion in the six months as
exports increased 25.2% to $428.6 billion while
imports were up 21.3% at $367.1 billion.
According to the NBS, the investment in
urban areas in the past six months reached 3,636.8
billion yuan, increasing 31.3% or 4.2% higher, the
highest growth since the second half year of 2004.
Stimulated by the surging housing demand,
the total investment in real estate sector
increased by 24.2%, or 0.7% higher over the same
period last year.
In terms of different
industries, investment in heavy industry was up by
32.6%, of which the year-on-year growth of
investment in coal mining and washing hit a record
high of 45.7%.
The country's soaring
demand for energy resources drove investment in
extraction of petroleum and natural gas up 30.3%
in the first half of this year, and investment in
production and supply of electricity, gas and
water went up by 17.5%.
Stimulated by
booming economic growth, investment in railway
transportation, the main vehicle to transport
production materials, surged 87.6% in the first
half of this year.
In addition,
year-on-year growth of investment in light
industry was 41.2%, of which investment in
manufacturing of foods was up by 65.1%, and that
in textile industry up by 40.6%.
