China's GDP likely to grow 6.8 percent in Q3: think tank

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BEIJING - China's economy is likely to grow by 6.8 percent year on year in the third quarter, thanks to steady consumption and investment, according to a Chinese government think tank report.

The firming trend in the first half of 2017 will continue into the third quarter, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), citing steady consumption and robust infrastructure investment.

The report forecast that consumption growth will rise around 10 percent and infrastructure investment will grow around 20 percent in the second half of the year.

CASS estimated that China's economy would expand by 6.7 percent and 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter and for the whole year, respectively.

"The Chinese economy will maintain the firming trend in the second half of the year and China is confident it will achieve its annual economic growth target," said the report.

The Chinese government trimmed its 2017 growth target to around 6.5 percent, the lowest in a quarter of a century.

China's economy continued steady expansion in the first half of this year with GDP up 6.9 percent year on year to about 38.15 trillion yuan ($5.6 trillion), data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

In the second quarter, GDP held steady at 6.9 percent year on year, flat from the first quarter, according to the NBS.

The report said the Chinese government should guard against risks in the property and financial sectors and the growth of China's fiscal revenue will slow in the second half of the year due to continued tax breaks.