Wen: China's policies help slow economy

BEIJING, July 16 (UPI) -- The slowdown in China's second-quarter economic growth was because of the government's regulation and controls, Premier Wen Jiabao" class="tpstyle">Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday.

Wen said his country's economy generally was consistent with "the government's macro-economic regulation and control," China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

Government officials said Thursday China's economy expanded 11.1 percent in the first six months of the year, growing 11.9 percent in the first quarter and expanding 10.3 percent in the second quarter.

"Efforts will be made to balance continued steady and fast growth with the restructuring of the economy and the management of inflation expectations," Wen said during a news conference in Beijing with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "China will keep its proactive fiscal policy and moderately loose monetary policy."

Wen said more efforts will be made to rebalance the economy and improve energy efficiency. He said officials would try to advance economic reform to formulate a mechanism to achieve sustainable growth while improving people's lives, Xinhua said.

China set an annual economic growth target for 2010 at 8 percent.