A senior official said Wednesday that China's economic growth is stabilizing at a slow pace on the back of the government's macro-control policies and measures.
Zhang Ping, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, said in a briefing to national lawmakers at a bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee that the government will continue an active financial policy and prudent monetary policy for the rest of the year.
"The current situation shows that the government's policies and measures have been effective. Economic growth is stabilizing at a slow pace," Zhang said, commenting on the performance of China's economy in the first half of the year.
China's gross domestic product (GDP) for the first half saw a 7.8-percent year-on-year increase, with a growth rate of 8.1 percent in the first quarter and 7.6 percent in the second quarter.
In March, Premier Wen Jiabao set a 7.5-percent GDP growth target for 2012 in his government work report delivered to NPC, or the country's top legislature.
Zhang elaborated that effective government policies and measures included cutting interest rates twice and offering special financial aids to small and medium-sized enterprises to help them ease operating difficulties.
According to the official, speculative demand and investment demand have been effectively suppressed due to government control policies on the real estate market.
In July, prices for newly-built commercial residential buildings showed year-on-year decreases in 58 out of 70 major Chinese cities surveyed, he said.
Price rises have continued to slow since the beginning of the year as a result of improving supply-demand relations and dropping prices for some bulk commodities on the international market, he added.
