IMF Raises China's 2010 GDP Growth Projection to 10.5%

HONG KONG, July 8 -- The International Monetary Fund ( IMF) lifted China's GDP growth forecast for 2010 to 10.5 percent from the earlier projection of 10 percent, the IMF said in a latest world economic outlook released on Thursday.

The body also revised the country's GDP growth projection for 2011 to 9.6 percent, down 0.3 percentage point from the previous estimate released in April.

With the revised figures, China still ranks first in terms of GDP growth among all economies listed in the World Economic Outlook Projections, followed by India, which is forecast to grow 9.4 percent in 2010 and 8.4 percent in 2011.

The IMF attributed the upward revision of China's 2010 GDP growth to the strong rebound in exports and resilient domestic demand so far this year in the country.

The organization said that China could take further measures to slow credit growth and maintain financial stability, and thus comes the lower growth estimate for 2011.