China's annual economic growth surged in the second quarter to an 11-year high of 11.9 per cent.
The figures, released today by the National Bureau of Statistics, leave China firmly on course to chalk up its fifth straight year of double-digit growth and to overtake Germany before long as the third-biggest economy in the world.
The spurt in GDP growth from 11.1 per cent in the first quarter blew past expectations of a 10.8 per cent rise and prompted several banks to raise their 2007 growth forecasts. Goldman Sachs now expects 12.3 per cent, while JPMorgan Chase is projecting 11.3 per cent.
The quarterly growth rate was the strongest since the last three months of 1995, Lehman Brothers said. The economy expanded 10.9 per cent that year after 13.1 per cent growth in 1994.
Tai Hui, an economist with Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, said 11.9 per cent growth was "in the stratosphere".
"Obviously, this puts even more pressure on the authorities to take prompt action to look at their strategy," he said. "They may not call it overheating, but the truth is, these numbers are incredibly high."