Making the first public disclosure of China’s official target for growth in 2010, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong, said on Monday that the country is aiming at an 8 percent growth, amidst a “fragile” recovery worldwide.

In a Ministry webcast, Li further said: “According to the economic growth target of about 8 percent decided by the central government, we target industrial output growth at about 11 percent.”

Since 2005 China has officially targeted an 8 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) every year, and has always been able to reach it; and an 11 percent expected industrial output growth implies that the country intends the further strengthening of industrial production in December after reporting an annual 19.2 percent in November.

Meanwhile, though the economists were projecting that China, the third-largest economy in the world would likely grow by almost 9 percent next year, the decision about 8 percent growth target evidently follows a November-18 caution by the central bank adviser Fan Gang that “double-digit” growth target for 2010 might not be feasible due to the increasing risk of bubbles in real estate, stock and commodity prices.

Nonetheless, Alaistair Chan, an economist at Moody’s Economy. com in Sydney, opined that China would “probably overshoot 8 percent next year,” as the economic momentum generated by it will further facilitate the achievement of 8 percent in 2010 vis-à-vis this year’s situation.