China has said its economy expanded at a slower but still robust pace in the second quarter of this year, as the country battles to bring inflation under control.
Gross domestic product in the world's number two economy grew at an annual rate of 9.5% in the April-June period, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
The figure was higher than the 9.4% forecast by most economists, but slower than the 9.7% rate in the first three months of the year and 9.8% in the fourth quarter of 2010.
China's annual inflation rate hit a three-year high of 6.4% in June. The central bank has hiked interest rates five times since October, most recently last Wednesday, and increased the amount of money banks must keep in reserve numerous times, making it difficult for companies to access funding.
In the first half of 2011, the economy expanded 9.6% year-on-year compared with 11.1% in the same period of 2010, the data showed.
The slowdown in growth comes amid concerns China is heading for a hard landing after manufacturing activity almost stalled in June. This could have a serious impact on countries struggling to recover from the financial crisis.
Other data showed that industrial output from China's millions of factories rose at an annual rate of 14.3% in the first half, while fixed asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, rose 25.6%. Retail sales were up 16.8% year-on-year in the first six months.
Some analysts have been concerned that China, anxious about inflation's potential to trigger social unrest, may have gone too far in tightening monetary policy as it struggles to bring prices under control. Chinese inflation has been driven by food prices, which soared more than 14%.
At the same time, there are growing fears about massive local government debt burdens after ratings agency Moody's warned the proportion of sour loans could be much higher than previously forecast.
Chinese appointment at IMF
The International Monetary Fund has named Chinese economist Zhu Min to a new deputy managing director's position, giving long-awaited recognition to China's huge power in the global economy.
The IMF also named White House aide David Lipton to its number two position, replacing outgoing first deputy managing director John Lipsky.
They were the first appointments made by new IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, who arrived last week promising a greater role for the world's large emerging economies, currently underrepresented on the IMF board and management.
