China's economy will continue to be "good" in 2005, said a National Statistics Bureau (NSB) official at a forum in Beijing Sunday.

Zheng Jingping, director-general of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of NBS, said that though the growth rate of China's economy in 2004 is projected at 9 percent or more, it will continue to grow in a high speed in 2005.

Since 2002, China has witnessed rapid growth in urbanization, industrialization and improvement on the consumption level, while actively participating in global division of labor, Zheng said.

These four characteristics will continue to push China's economy forward and the expanding global economy will provide a good international environment for the national economy, as demand of exports, investment and consumption will remain strong, he said.

In the long run, however, problems in the country's economic system and the way the economy grows will continue, such as those in the distribution of land, labor and capital, Zheng said.

The government will also meet great difficulties in macro-economic control, he added.

The International Monetary Fund predicted the average growth rate of the global economy would reach 4.3 percent in 2005, 0.7 percent less than in 2004, and that the world trade would increase by 7.2 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2004)