China's economy will grow at about 9 per cent this year, the State Development and Reform Commission said, upgrading an earlier estimate of 7.2 per cent.

Secretary general and spokesman for the commission Cao Yushu also told a forum that macroeconomic control measures the central government has been implementing have been working, the Beijing News reported on Saturday.

"This year the whole year GDP will maintain growth of about nine per cent, and this speed is higher than the estimate of 7.2 per cent from the beginning of the year," the newspaper quoted Cao as saying on Friday.

"If GDP growth exceeds its potential, then the macroeconomic control measures should be expanded," the newspaper paraphrased him as saying.

China has taken steps since last year to cool the economy, including ordering banks to keep more money in reserve instead of lending it out, and banning new projects in industries such as property and steel.

Many of the problems that caused parts of the Chinese economy to overheat were still there though, Cao said.

Macro controls should have two goals, he said -- preventing parts of the economy from overheating and keeping overall economic growth from declining in a major way.

China's economy is seen growing nearly nine percent this year before cooling in 2005, according to a Reuters quarterly poll. GDP in 2003 was up 9.1 per cent on the previous year.

China's economy grew 9.69 per cent in the first half of this year from the year-earlier period.

Source: agencies