'No fear of hard landing'

The National Statistics Bureau is scheduled to release its quarterly economic report on Friday.

Prior to the bureau's announcement, various investment institutions have come up with their own forecasts, all suggesting the country's second-quarter GDP growth will be the lowest in three years. Many domestic analysts forecast a figure of 7.6 percent year-on-year, while the forecasts by international financial institutions range from 7.2 percent to 7.6 percent.

According to Wang Jun, senior economist with the domestic think tank China Center for International Economic Exchanges, the Chinese government still holds plenty of ammunition to defend growth.

China is fully capable of a soft landing and steering clear of the worst-case scenario that some people have feared. And in the near future, the more effective weapon is to expand investment, as Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier this week.

Wang forecast China would see an annualized GDP growth of 7.5 percent or a little more, while inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, would remain between 2.5 and 3 percent.