A senior cabinet member supervising national economy said Wednesday morning that China gained 9.9 percent economic growth in the first three quarters of this year.

Zhang Ping, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), reported the implementation of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) on national economy and social development to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

The growth rate in the past two years averaged 11.8 percent, higher than what the government expects in the plan. Since 2006, the country has created 30.28 million jobs, or 67 percent of the target set by the five-year plan, Zhang said.

China's first CRH sleeper train makes its maiden journey from Beijing to Shanghai on Dec. 21, 2008.

The consumer price in the past two years increased by 3.1 percent annually, which was deemed as a stable level, he said.

Employment in the service sector increased by one percentage point in the past two years, which was a little slower than the government plan, Zhang said.

The ratio of research and development expenditures in the gross domestic product (GDP) in the past two years increased by 0.15 percentage point, lower than the planned goal of expanding by about 0.13 percentage point each year.

By the end of 2007, Zhang said, the Chinese population grew by 0.52 percent annually to more than 1.32 billion.

Up to last June, the basic urban pension system had covered 210 million residents, 73 percent of the plan, Zhang said.

Summarizing the economic operation in the past two years, Zhang said the agriculture has been strengthened, industrial structure upgraded, regional development coordinated, energy efficiency and emission reduction pushed forward, innovation encouraged, restructuring and deregulation deepened, and social benefits emphasized.

"We are confronted with great challenges resulting from a drastic change of world economic and financial situation," Zhang said.

The international economic turmoil is expected to last for quite a long period, resulting in an inevitable slump in world economy, Zhang said.

As China's import and export value accounts for two thirds of its GDP, the global economic slump would definitely hit China, he said.

"If we are unable to properly deal with the difficulties, we might be faced with grave risks in failing to realize our strategic goals in economic and social development," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2008)