Senior government advisers yesterday said China's brisk economic growth is credible, dispelling doubts by foreign researchers that the statistics have been exaggerated.

Renowned economist Li Yining, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said some researchers' doubts are based on China's slower increase of energy consumption rather than its economy.

"The researchers should be informed of some basic facts taking place during China's process of reform and opening up," said Li.

Some economists believe China's economic growth, pegged at an average of 9 per cent per year during the past quarter century, has been overstated, Li learnt during a recent visit to Cambridge University in England.

Li said China's energy consumption growth slowed down because China has closed many medium and small enterprises with high energy consumption levels while newer technologies have improved energy-savings.

Li made these remarks during his keynote speech at the CPPCC-sponsored 21st Century Forum which opened yesterday in Beijing.

The China Society for World Trade Organization Studies co-sponsored the two-day forum with the theme of Investing in China: World's Choice and China's Policy.

Li insisted China's economy has been underrated because much of the income generated is not included in growth numbers due to institutional failures.

For instance, the income of about 10 million nursemaids nationwide has not been taken into account by China's statistics organizations. Meanwhile, many private enterprises have not fully reported their income.

Conflicting views about China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth have arisen in recent years. In the past, many foreign economists held the view that China's GDP was overvalued.

But contrary to some foreign scholars' estimates, over the past two years many Chinese and foreign economists have suggested that it may be "several percentage points less" than the actual growth figure.

China's GDP in the first nine months of this year grew by 8.5 per cent from the same period last year and that growth will likely keep pace for the whole year.

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