THE Chinese economy will have no problem meeting the government’s growth target of around 6.5 percent this year, and may even beat it, the head of the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday, confirming widespread market expectations.

Steps taken by the government to rein in the overheated property market have also been effective and will remain in place, Ning Jizhe told reporters in a briefing in Beijing.

Analysts have expected that full-year growth would meet or exceed the government’s target after the world’s second-largest economy expanded by a stronger-than-expected 6.9 percent in the first half of the year, fueled by heavy government infrastructure spending and a property boom.

If growth does beat last year’s 6.7 percent — the lowest in 26 years — it would mark the first acceleration in the growth rate in seven years.

As fears of the economy suffering a hard landing have faded, policymakers have become readier to tackle mounting debt and push forward difficult structural reforms.

While the economy could lose some momentum in coming months due to higher borrowing costs and property cooling measures, most analysts believe the slowdown will be moderate.

The World Bank last week raised its growth forecast for China for 2017 to 6.7 percent from 6.5 percent. It also estimates that growth will moderate at a slower pace to 6.4 percent in 2018 compared to a previous forecast of 6.3 percent.(SD-Agencies)