Agence France Presse

Shanghai, July 18:

China should refrain from adopting new macro-economic control policies that could slow the pace of growth in its economy, state press reported today. “We should stabilise macro-economic control policies and should not issue new tightening measures in the near-term,” Qiu Xiaohua, deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said. In his report to the National People’s Congress, concerning economic development in the first half, Qiu said the economy in the six months to June was stable and major indicators were nearing government targets. The report did not give any figures. China’s economy grew by 9.4 per cent in the first three months of the year and with second quarter figures set to be announced next week some analysts are expecting a mild slowdown. As such the government has been facing growing calls to relax a package of monetary and administrative measures introduced piecemeal over the past two years to cool economic overheating. Others argue that the Chinese economy is still at risk of expanding too fast and over-investment continues in sectors

such as construction, steel and property.