China Needs to Cool Growth, Energy Consumption – Planner

China should take measures to cool economic growth and reduce energy consumption, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission said.

“Current economic growth, 11.5 percent or above 11 percent, is too fast and at too high a cost” Han Yongwen, the planning agency’s secretary general, said at a conference in Beijing today. The world’s fourth largest economy expanded by more than 11 percent through the first three quarters of 2007.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is trying to cool growth in the world’s fastest-growing major economy without triggering a sudden slowdown that may cost jobs and leave factories idle. Japanese companies including Toyota Motor Corp. urged China in September to slow the pace of its expansion on concern overheating in Japan’s biggest trading partner may cause economic turmoil.

“The government should curb economic growth within a reasonable range that is compatible with energy and resource supply and without causing more imbalance,” Han said, citing the nation’s consumption of 15 percent of the world’s energy, 30 percent of steel and 54 percent of cement in 2006. By comparison, China’s gross domestic product accounted for 5.5 percent of the global economy last year, Han said.

Bloomberg