Economy grows at reasonable speed

BEIJING -- China's economy is expanding at a reasonable speed but the country's conditions mean double-digit growth rates will not be seen, said Fan Jianping, chief economist with the State Information Center, a government think-tank.

As long as the growth rate is above 7 percent, it can be called a normal performance, Fan told a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference on Wednesday.

If China's economic growth rate remains between 7 and 9 percent, there will not be serious inflation or deflation, and the job market will be satisfactory, Fan said.

The Chinese economy had the potential for double-digit growth rates since the country's reform and opening-up in 1978 and before the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008, he said.

But after 30 years of boom, growth potentials have dwindled as China's economy has entered a new phase of restructuring, he said.

Though the economic growth rate has slowed, its quality and efficiency have improved, he said.

China's economy grew 7.6 percent in the first half of 2013 from a year earlier.