China think-tank says GDP to grow avg 7.5 pct/yr

SHANGHAI, Mar 20 (Reuters) China's economy will grow at an average 7.5 percent a year in 2006-2010, the State Information Centre, a top government think-tank, forecast in a research report carried by the Shanghai Securities News on Monday.

''In the eleventh five-year period, GDP growth will average 7.5 percent,'' the report said, referring to the period beginning this year.

In the first five years of this decade, China's GDP grew at an average 9.5 percent a year.

REUTERS VJ RAI0511