News / Business

Chinese official deems growth figure ‘truthful’

Sunday, 19 July 2015 6:24 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 19 July 2015 6:24 PM ]

File photo of China's Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao

A Chinese official has defended the country’s growth figure of 7 percent as "truthful.”

Finance vice-minister Zhu Guangyao has told the Xinhua news agency that "it is a serious and truthful figure," adding that "the Chinese economy has been growing at more than 9 percent for a long time. So the 7 percent growth shows the economy is under some pressure."

China’s National Statistics Bureau said last week that the country’s GDP saw a growth of 7 percent year-on-year in the second quarter.

Zhu's remarks come after the Shanghai Composite Index took a nosedive of about 30 percent, making Chinese authorities scramble to stabilize the stock market.

The official also noted that the mainland stock market turbulence was curbed after the government stepped in with a series of measures.

"Consumption has contributed to more than 60 percent of the growth in the first half of the year, which is a very healthy figure," Zhu said, adding that the government would adopt stable fiscal and monetary policies.

The slower growth also indicated that adjustments in fiscal and monetary policies had taken effect, the vice-minister said.

The Chinese official further expressed confidence that his country would be able to meet its potential economic growth rate of between 7 and 8 percent over the next five years through market reforms which would help productivity to increase again.

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