China to grow by around 9 pct in 2006 -stats chief

BEIJING, Apr 4 (Reuters) China's economy is set to grow by around 9 percent this year, the recently appointed head of the statistics bureau said in remarks published on Tuesday.

China's economy had grown by around 10 percent over the past three years thanks to the role played by market forces in allocating resources and effective macroeconomic policies, Qiu Xiaohua was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying.

''In keeping with such a developmental trend, the Chinese economy will grow by around 9 percent this year,'' it cited Qiu as telling a weekend forum in the eastern province of Anhui.

The forecast was in line with the views of the many government think-tanks that forecast growth. They typically see growth near 9 percent, or perhaps a touch higher.

Qiu was appointed as head of China's National Bureau of Statistics in March, replacing Li Deshui, who retired.

Qiu, an economist, told Reuters in an interview in February that China's near double-digit economic growth was unlikely to lose much momentum this year.

REUTERS MP HT1758