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Analysts expect Beijing to try to stimulate growth with an interest rate cut, tax cuts or other measures. The central bank promised pro-growth measures this month to help entrepreneurs though it also pointed to inflation pressures and global uncertainties and said its monetary policy will stay "prudent." Also in 2011, China's urban population exceeded the number of rural dwellers for the first time, rising to 51.3 percent of the nation's 1.3 billion people, the government reported. Industry surveys show manufacturing and exports contracted in November and December, while a slowdown in real estate sales triggered by government efforts to stop speculation and cool surging housing prices has sparked concern about the impact on the overall economy. December import growth fell to 11.8 percent, barely half the previous month's 22.1 percent gain. "The slowdown has yet to come to an end," said economist Zhang Xinfa at China Galaxy Securities in Beijing. Analysts say Beijing still needs to boost consumer spending to reduce reliance on exports and investment to drive growth. The communist government has pledged for years to reorient its economy but is only starting to make progress after its stimulus in response to the 2008 global crisis fueled a surge in construction spending. Ma, the statistics official, pointed to the shift in population toward cities and said that might help to spur consumption growth. "If we can rely more on domestic consumption," said Credit Agricole CIB's Cheung, "that will help the economy to sail through all these headwinds." ___ Online: National Bureau of Statistics (in Chinese):
http://www.stats.gov.cn/
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