China's economy is poised to grow by over seven per cent in 2004 even as the gross domestic product last year zoomed at an enviable rate of 9.1%, with per capita income reaching an all-time high of $1,090.

China's GDP in 2003 grew at 9.1 per cent over the previous year, reaching 11.6694 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion), the National Bureau of Statistics said in Beijing on Tuesday.

The GDP growth rate recorded in 2003 was the highest since 1997, and Commissioner of NBS, Li Deshui, attributed the impressive performance of the Chinese economy to the government's pro-active fiscal and monetary policies, growing fixed asset investments, good show by exports as well as the industrial sector.

Releasing the preliminary economic data, Li forecast that China's economy will grow above seven per cent year-on-year in 2004.

"The economy is expected to expand fairly fast in the first quarter of this year, backed by continued investment growth," he said.

Though consumer demand will be stronger, export growth is likely to slow down due to the change in the country's tax rebate policy and worldwide trade protectionism, he said.

The average per capita GDP of $1,090 was a hard-won achievement considering that China was struck by the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak and frequent natural disasters, he said.

China's foreign exchange reserve rose sharply to a record $403.3 billion by the end of 2003. The figure was $116.8 billion more than a year ago.

The country attracted $115.07 billion worth of investment in 2003, up 39.03 per cent over the previous year. At the same time, the actually utilised foreign investment last year was $53.5 billion, up 1.44 per cent from the previous year.

In 2003, China's total foreign trade volume reached a record $851.21 billion, up 37.1 per cent, much higher than the forecast of $780-$800 billion.

However, imports outstripped the growth in exports and rose 39.9 per cent to $412.84 billion. Exports surged by 34.6 per cent to $438.37 billion dollars.

The overall growth in the industrial sector also contributed to the high growth of the Chinese economy last year.

The Consumer Price Index increased by 1.2 per cent in 2003. "There was no severe inflation in China," Li said while noting that the CPI for December 2003 alone rose 3.2 per cent year-on-year.