New reform to sustain 8-pct growth: economist

BEIJING - The reform package sanctioned recently by the Communist Party of China (CPC) will stimulate the economy and help the country sustain annual growth of around 8 percent, a well-known Chinese economist said here Friday.

Zheng Xinli, deputy director of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said reforms released after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee will bring vitality to the economy and help realize continuous and relatively fast growth till 2020, or even 2030.

"It is possible that China will sustain annual growth rate of around 8 percent till 2020," said Zheng, formerly deputy director of the CPC policy research office, the party's top think tank.

His estimate is more upbeat than other forecasts, which have suggested the annual growth rate may slow down to between 7 and 7.5 percent over the next decade from a near 10-percent expansion rate seen in the past three decades.

A policy document on deepening China's reforms was released a week ago, after the plenary session which ended on November 12.

The highlight of the 60-point reform plan is allowing the market to play a bigger role in resources distribution and restricting government's interference in the economy.

In the first three quarters, the country's gross domestic product grew by 7.7 percent, above the government's full-year target of 7.5 percent.