China's growth accelerates to 8.9%

SHOOT: One thing China has that America doesn't is savings.

clipped from news.yahoo.com SHANGHAI – China's economy expanded 8.9 percent in the third quarter, pumped up by easy credit and massive government spending that have ensured a recovery while the U.S., Japan and Europe continue to flounder. The world's third-largest economy grew 7.7 percent in the first nine months of 2009, bouncing back from a slowdown that began late last year. Officials say they are confident of reaching an annual growth target of 8 percent. "We can say we have made obvious and remarkable achievements in our economic growth," National Statistics Bureau spokesman Li Xiaochao told reporters in Beijing. China fought off the global downturn with a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus plan involving massive spending on infrastructure such as rail and roads to boost the domestic economy as exports slumped. The strategy paid off, with growth jumping to 7.9 percent in the second quarter of the year from 6.1 percent in the first quarter.