China's 8% economic growth goal achievable: economist

BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- China will, without any doubt, be able to achieve the 8 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) this year, a senior Chinese economist said Sunday.

Yao Jingyuan, chief economist with the National Bureau of Statistics, made the remarks at a fortune forum in Beijing.

However he warned that the Chinese economy will still face two major problems next year: slumping overseas market demand and weak driving force on domestic market.

Chinese economy rose 7.7 percent in the first three quarters, driven mainly by investment and consumption, but brought down by exports, Yao said.

He stressed more efforts should be made on structural adjustment to shift dependence on the industrial growth to the comprehensive development of the agricultural, industrial and service sectors.

Yao highlighted the importance to raise people's incomes, add investment on livelihood projects and give full play to the role of consumption to boost economy.

Meanwhile, China should turn its economic growth dependence from resources-intensive consumption to technology renovation, Yao said.