Barclays cautious on China's Q4 economic data

China's economic data for the fourth quarter could be mixed, indicating the recovery is still not on a solid footing, according to a new report from investment bank Barclays Capital.

"We maintain our forecast for GDP growth in the fourth quarter to be 7.8 percent, which will bring full-year growth to 7.7 percent in 2012, compared with 9.3 percent in 2011," said Chang Jian, an economist with Barclays.

The bank has forecast CPI inflation to rise to 2.4 percent year-on-year after the cold weather led to a surge in vegetable prices, while pork prices continued to rise on holiday demand.

December new loans are likely to reach 550 billion yuan ($87 billion), bringing the year's total to 8.3 trillion yuan in 2012. The figure for 2011 was 7.5 trillion yuan, according to the bank.

China is expected to release economic data for December and fourth quarter GDP over the next week.