ADB expects economy to expand by 6.7%

A woman walks past a Louis Vuitton advertisement in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province. [Photo by Chen Hao/For China Daily]

Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday raised China's growth forecast in 2017 and 2018, supported by strong service sector, fiscal expansion and export recovery.

The bank now expects China's economy to expand by 6.7 percent in 2017, up from a previous projection of 6.5 percent in April.

Growth in 2018 is expected to reach 6.4 percent compared to 6.2 percent in previous forecast.

Juergen Conrad, head of the economics unit at the ADB China Resident Mission, said some promising signs appeared in the second quarter, such as recovery of export, that were not anticipated in April.

He said he expected the good signs to continue to support growth in coming months.

In the meantime, much efforts are needed to promote structural reforms, because credit fueled growth may pose risks to the economy in the long run, said Conrad.

He said the government is doing a good job trying to contain risks in the financial sector, and has been trying to see a smooth transition amid the rebalancing process.

He said the efforts have been recognized by rating companies that recently downgraded China's rating, and there should not be too much reading into worries.

China's economy grew at a faster than expected 6.9 percent pace in the first half.