国际英语新闻：WB praises China's re-focus on economic restructuring

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank has welcomed the efforts of the Chinese government to restructure the country's economy.

The World Bank said in its latest China Quarterly Update released Wednesday that the re-focus had trained onto key areas.

"As China is preparing for the 12th Five-Year Plan, the key overall objectives are making further progress in 're-balancing' the economy, enhancing efficiency gains, moving to a more sustainable spatial transformation of economic activity and employment, further changing the role of the state in the economy, and taking account of China's interaction with the rest of the world," said the update, a regular assessment of China's economy.

The document found that massive state investment-led stimulus was key in driving the economy last year, with real estate investment gaining prominence more recently and household consumption growth holding up very well.

But it pointed to the fact that with stronger imports, the country's trade surplus declined sharply, becoming a major drag on China's growth in 2009.

Under such circumstances coupled with a global recession, China's economy still expanded 8.7 percent in 2009, and the growth momentum continued into the first months of 2010.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the World Bank projected that China's economy will grow 9.5 percent in 2010.