Beijing, China, 20 Oct – China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate slowed slightly to 10.4 percent in the third quarter of 2006 after rising by 11.3 percent in the second quarter, the National Department of Statistics said in Beijing Thursday.

In the first quarter of the year GDP grew by 10.3 percent.

In accumulated terms, China’s GDP increased 10.7 percent to 14.1 trillion yuan (US$1.76 trillion) against a government projection of 8 percent for the whole year.

Department spokesman Lo Xiaochao told journalists that the slowdown in GDP growth in the third quarter suggested that efforts by the central government to slow investment were effective, although not effective enough.

From January to September, the industrial sector posted the highest increase by growing 13 percent, followed by the services sector which grew 9.5 percent. (macauhub)