China's economy grew by 9.4 per cent in the first nine months of this year, which the central government in Beijing trumpeted as a moderate slowdown from 9.5 per cent in June. However, analysts at private banks believe the Chinese economy is still surging ahead.

Keeping tabs on growth in the Chinese economy, which the Irish government has targeted as a major partner for trade, has become a major political headache as the gap between rich and poor grows.

Beijing is keen to show that its efforts to cool the overheating economy, and forestall a hard landing, have been a success. Some economists at private banks, however, reckon the Chinese economy is still surging ahead despite the cautious government outlook.

They do not use Chinese official data in their calculations and they estimate the Chinese economy actually accelerated in the third quarter.

"Our proprietary indices show momentum accelerating in Q3 rather than decelerating. As a result, for the time being, we would discount the view that the Chinese economy is slowing, particularly with the continued recovery in construction activity," said Jonathan Anderson, chief economist at UBS Asia.

The government data showed that China's consumer price index rose by 2 per cent year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year, a decline of 2.1 percentage points compared with a year earlier.

At the same time, the government played down the possibility of a further revaluation of the yuan, and economists said they don't expect any immediate tightening of monetary policy.

"The economy should grow by about 9 per cent or more, giving next year a good start," Zheng Jingping, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, told a news conference.

Goldman Sachs raised its GDP growth forecast for China to 9.4 per cent for 2005.