Gross domestic product rose 11.9 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said at a briefing in Beijing today. That was more than the median 11.7 percent estimate in a survey of 24 economists.

China’s economic growth accelerated to the fastest pace in almost three years in the first quarter, highlighting overheating risks that may prompt the government to scrap the yuan’s peg to the dollar.

A lower-than-estimated gain in consumer prices complicates a debate in Beijing on when to raise interest rates, cut in 2008 to counter the financial crisis. Australia and India have already moved and Singapore yesterday allowed a one-time revaluation of its currency as the region winds back stimulus policies to limit asset-bubble and inflation risks.

“The next policy move remains likely to be a yuan revaluation,” said Glenn Maguire, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong. Inflation data may lead the central bank to delay an interest-rate increase until the second half of the year, he said.

After the GDP announcement and this week’s report of a record jump in property prices, the government today announced measures to cool the real-estate market, including requirements for bigger home down payments. The government also said it will study extra taxes, including on individuals’ profits from property sales.

While China doesn’t release quarter-on-quarter figures, Royal Bank of Scotland estimated 14.5 percent economic growth on that basis. The median of seven economists’ estimates was 11.2 percent.

Citigroup Inc. today raised its 2010 growth forecast for China to 10.5 percent from 9.8 percent. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased to 10.8 percent from 10 percent. RBS estimated 11 percent, up from 10 percent.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s unscheduled meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan in Beijing on April 8 fueled speculation that the yuan’s 21-month-old peg at about 6.83 per dollar may be scrapped amid calls in Congress to brand China a currency manipulator.

Residential and commercial real-estate prices in 70 cities climbed 11.7 percent in March from a year earlier, the most since data began in 2005.

Shayne Heffernan www.livetradingnews.com

Posted by Shayne Heffernan on Apr 15th, 2010and filed underBRIC, Commodities, Equities, Latest News, Markets, Shayne Heffernan, USA.You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site