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China's Economy to Expand 7.1 Percent in 2015, Says World Bank

| Jan 15, 2015 04:12 AM EST

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The World Bank has scaled down its forecast for China's economy, from 7.5 percent to 7.1 percent, after the former figure was released in June last year.

The Chief Economist with the World Bank, Kaushik Basu, described the status of China's current economy as a "carefully managed slowdown" during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.

Basu maintained that the projected growth for China is still considered "robust" as he spoke about the Washington-based institution's latest Global Economic Prospects report.

The financial body also looked beyond 2015, citing growth of 7 percent in 2016 and 6.9 percent during the subsequent year. According to the report, economic rebalancing will underpin the moderation of China's growth over the next three-to-five-year time frame.

In addition to the comments from the chief economist, the report provided further details of China's slower-than-expected 2015 trajectory:

"Structural reforms, a gradual withdrawal of fiscal stimulus, and continued prudential measures to slow non-bank credit expansion will result in slowing growth."

Domestically produced data regarding China's economic performance over 2014 has not yet been released, with the scheduled date falling next week. However, the media reported on Wednesday that, for the first three quarters of 2014, China's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 7.4 percent in comparison to 2013, which registered slightly below the official target of 7.5 percent.

The reduced target for China falls in line with global projections, as the bank expects the world economy to expand by 3 percent in 2015, instead of the 3.4 percent figure it announced in June.

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