2018.05.2019:34:00UTC+00China Economy to Likely Grow at Around 6.7% in the 2nd Quarter - Official Think Tank

China's economy will likely grow at around 6.7 percent in the second quarter in 2018, the State Information Center (SIC) said in an article in the state-owned China Securities Journal.

The forecast was slightly slower than the 6.8 percent growth reported in the first quarter.

April activity data released earlier this week implied that China's economy is starting to lose some momentum, as the government continues a crackdown on riskier types of financing.

While still expanding at a good pace, retail sales and fixed asset investment increased more modestly than expected while property sales dropped for the first time in six months in the face of continued government curbs on speculation and rising mortgage rates.

Industrial output bounced back though the outlook for exporters is being clouded by trade frictions with the United States.

The official think tank expects dollar-denominated exports to increased at almost eight percent in the second quarter versus a year earlier and imports to rise around ten percent.

It forecast consumer inflation of around two percent and expected producer price inflation would accelerate to about 3.8 percent in the second quarter from the previous year.

According to the SIC, it expects China's industrial output to grow about 6.6 percent in April-June from a year earlier, with fixed-asset investment growth of around 7.2 percent and retail sales seen rising about 10 percent.

China's statistics bureau said this week that steady economic growth in April made a good foundation for achieving the full-year growth target.