BBC uesday, 17 July, 2001, 06:41 GMT 07:41 UK China's economy booms

China booms despite the global economic slump China's economy grew by 7.9% in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2000, official statistics showed Tuesday.

The growth rate was in line with expectations as government statisticians had previously said the economy would grow by about eight percent in the first half of the year.

But China's economy has been hit by the global economic slowdown which has led to a slump in exports.

"In the first half of the year, every area and every government department ... worked hard to overcome problems from the international economy and from serious droughts in some areas at home," an government official said.

In the second quarter of this year, China's economy grew by 7.8%, a slightly slower rate than the first-quarter growth of 8.1%.

The government warned of tougher times ahead in the second half of this year because of the continued weak global economic outlook.

But it said the economy may meet or even exceed its seven percent target for economic growth for all of 2001 set at the beginning of the year.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001

Answers

As I recall, the prediction is that the strong the Chinese economy, the more petroleum they are likely to use. They are now a major competitor for this worldwide resource.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001

So, not only are we increasingly reliant on the them for out-of-scale garden ornaments in colors unknown in nature, the Chinese are going to drive up the cost of the gas we use to drive to purchase these objets d'art.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2001