BEIJING (AP) - China's economy is expected to grow 10 percent this year, slowing from its 10.7 percent expansion last year, according to a new central bank forecast reported Friday by a state news agency.
That projection is line with outside forecasts and comes amid government efforts to curb a boom in investment in factories and other assets that Chinese leaders worry could ignite a financial crisis.
The central bank also expects inflation to be higher this year than it was in 2006, hitting 2.3 percent, up from the 1.5 percent rate for last year, the Xinhua News Agency said.
The Asian Development Bank said this week it expects China's annual growth rate to decline gradually to about 9 percent through 2011.
In a separate report, the Chinese government's State Information Center forecast economic growth of about 11 percent for the first three months of this year, Xinhua said.