SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s economy is likely to grow at an annual rate of around 6.7 percent in the second half of 2017, slowing slightly from the first half of the year, the State Information Center (SIC) said on Tuesday.
The State Information Center is an official think tank affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency.
It forecast full-year growth in the world’s second largest economy of around 6.8 percent, it was reported as saying by the the state-owned China Securities Journal.
The SIC said the small decline would reflect a number of factors including a slowdown in export growth and a cooling of investment in the real estate market.
“The emerging service industry will maintain good growth momentum,” said the SIC.
China’s economy grew 6.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, slightly faster than expected, supported by a government infrastructure spending spree and a red-hot housing market.
(Reporting by Engen Tham and Wang Jing; Editing by Eric Meijer)
