⁍ China will see its economy expand by about 2% this year as it has got the coronavirus pandemic under control, central bank governor Yi Gang said.

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⁍ His remark comes ahead of Monday’s closely watched GDP data, which is likely to show the world’s second-largest economy grew 5.2% in July-September from a year earlier.

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– China’s economy likely grew 5.2% in the third quarter, which would have been the fastest growth in 18 months if not for the H1N1 virus. “I think the accumulative growth for the first three quarters of this year will be positive,” said Yi Gang, the central bank governor. “For the whole year, we predict China GDP growth of around 2%.” Yi made the comments ahead of tomorrow’s GDP report, which is expected to show a similar growth rate, Reuters reports. “The Chinese economy remains resilient with great potential,” Yi said. ” Continued recovery is anticipated, which will benefit the global recovery.” China’s monetary and fiscal policies will focus on helping small and medium-size firms, while ensuring that domestic demand plays a bigger role in boosting growth, he added. Yi said China’s currency rate was appreciating against the US dollar “significantly” in the past three months reflecting interest-rate differentials between the two countries—a development he said should be left to market forces. “Monetary policy should focus on domestic demand, domestic inflation targeting … and let the market decide the exchange rate,” he said.