CRI听力: NBS: Chinese Economy Grew by 11.9 Percent in Q1

The National Bureau of Statistics is pointing to this country's stimulus policies as the main reason why investment has pushed up the first quarter growth rate this year to 11.9 percent.

But as we hear from Wang Ling, some economists are suggesting that China's investment-driven growth should be transformed into consumption-led growth.

The National Statistics Bureau has announced that China's gross domestic product amounted to more than 8 trillion yuan or about 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars in the first quarter.

Li Xiaochao, spokesman for the Bureau, says that the economy has experienced an increasing growth momentum quarter by quarter.

"So far this year, the Chinese economy has achieved a good start with the consolidation of the recovery momentum. The GDP growth rate of the first quarter is 5.7 percentage points higher than the same period of last year. It's also faster than the 10.7 percent growth rate recorded in the fourth quarter of last year. The strong recovery is mainly a result of the government's stimulus policy."

Figures show that fixed asset investment amounted to over 3.5 trillion yuan during the first quarter, an increase of more than 25 percent year on year.

The spokesman says that investment is still the biggest contributor to the GDP growth with the contribution by consumption lagging behind.

Cao Heping, an economist from Peking University, says the country should pay more attention to changing its economic structure, which relies too much on investment for growth.

"The strong economic recovery and the acceptable CPI rate have created a very good opportunity for China to adjust its economic structure. To this end, we should adopt some macro-economic policies to further increase residents' income and boost consumers' demand."

According to the Statistics Bureau, China's consumer price index rose by 2.2 percent in the first quarter. The rise is acceptable when compared with the official-designated ceiling of three percent rise for the whole year's CPI.

Meanwhile, the total retail sales of consumer goods grew nearly 18 percent year on year. But the pace lags far behind that of the fixed asset investment.

Spokesman Li Xiaochao stresses that Chinese economy still faces many difficulties and the government will continue the pro-active fiscal and moderately easy monetary policies to shore up the economy.

China has been implementing a massive stimulus package, amounting to four trillion yuan, to assist its economy amid the international economic crisis since the end of 2008.

For CRI, this is Wang Ling.