China's economy will most possibly keep a moderate growth of 9.5 percent in 2007, with the fixed asset investment up 20 percent over 2006, the latest report by the State Information Center (SIC) has predicted.

According the SIC, growth of the three main engines driving Chinese economic growth, namely, exports, consumption and investment, will be slow down by various degrees.

Fixed asset investment is expected to hit 13.45 trillion yuan (US$1.68 trillion) in 2007, up 20 percent, or 6.5 percentage points lower than its prediction for the year 2006.

China's fixed asset investment rose to 7.19 trillion yuan in the first nine months of this year, up 27.3 percent over the same 2005 period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Meanwhile, the volume of retail sales will reach 8.59 trillion yuan in 2007, a nominal growth of 12.5 percent, which is 1.1 percentage points lower than the predicted whole-year growth rate for 2006.

Exports will jump 15 percent in 2007, 9.5 percentage points slower than in 2006.

Trade surplus is expected to reach US$177 billion, US$30 billion more than that of 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2006)