The World Bank raised its growth forecast for China this year to 9.5 per cent, although it warned that tighter monetary policy and a stronger currency were needed to prevent bubbles and rising inflationary expectations.
In a generally upbeat assessment of the Chinese economy which played down some of the concerns prevalent among investors at the moment, the bank raised its forecast for 2010 from the 8.7 per cent it predicted in its last quarterly report in November.
“China's economy held up well in the global crisis, and the growth prospects for this year and next year are quite good,'' said Louis Kuijs, senior economist in the bank's Beijing office.