China economic growth may slow

China’s feverish economic growth will slow slightly to about 10% next year, the chief economist for the National Statistics Bureau said Thursday.

The central bank estimated last week that the economy grew about 10.5% in 2006. That estimate, issued just before the New Year, will probably be revised when official data are released.

Yao Jingyuan said at a news briefing that the economy would probably maintain “fast and steady growth” next year, with the growth rate likely to slow to around 10%.

His forecast was in line with a central bank report last week that put expected growth for 2007 at 9.8%. Both are well above the 8% target for 2007 set by a government report this month.

Yao’s forecast suggested economic growth slowed slightly but remained rapid in the fourth quarter. The economy surged 10.7% in the first three quarters from the same period last year.

This year, China has taken measures to prevent the economy from overheating, such as interest rate hikes and increases in banks’ deposit reserve requirement ratio to curb excessive liquidity and rapid fixed-asset investment growth.