China Expected to Grow 6.6% in 2018

China›s economic growth rate is expected to be 6.6% in 2018, as revealed by the latest investigation of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
About 55% of the economists surveyed believe the economic growth rate of the second quarter of this year will remain the same as the first quarter, according to the investigation published on the China Economist, a periodical from the Institute of Industrial Economics of CASS, Ecns reported.
The predictions for the average growth rates of China›s economy in 2018 are 6.6% from economists in eastern China, 6.7% from those in central China, and 6.5% from those in western China, with the average prediction nationwide being 6.6%, the report said.
About 55% of economists participating in the investigation believe commodity price levels will increase compared with the same period last year and 25% of them believe they will remain the same.
The China Economist commodity price index of the second quarter of this year is 135, 9 percentage points lower than last quarter, indicating that the increasing trend of commodity price levels will slow.
Meanwhile, about 70% of the economists believe the pressure of overcapacity will be relieved but it will still exist for a long time in the next decade, the report said.
Nearly 80% of the economists surveyed think the lack of innovation and advanced technology means production companies cannot manufacture products that meet diversified needs, which leads to an overcapacity of low-end products and shortage of high-end products.
About 88.3% of the economists believe that overcapacity should be reduced by the government›s proper guidance and full usage of market mechanism effects.