China should hit its GDP growth target of 7.5 percent this year, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said on Sunday. Several investment banks upgraded near-term forecasts for China’s growth after a run of strong data for August, including factory output and exports, and many now have full-year growth above the government’s official target of 7.5 percent.
UBS, Deutsche Bank, CICC and Nomura were among the banks to upgrade their growth forecasts for 2013 after the recent data, and now all have it 7.6 percent or higher.
Kim was in Shanghai as part of a four-day tour focusing on expanding collaboration with China on climate change.
Power consumption in China, the world’s top energy user, is expected to grow more than 9 percent this year, faster than the 5.5-percent growth rate in 2012, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission said in January.
Much of that consumption is driven by inefficiently designed and poorly insulated buildings
A risk to all emerging economies is rising in interest rates as a result of expected tapering of Quantitive Easing by the US Federal Reserve.