“Policy easing” will help to boost economic growth above 8 percent this quarter and in the first half of next year, said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong. Inflation will lead to tightening and slower growth in the second half, Zhang said.

Export gains have picked up from a 1 percent pace in July and 2.7 percent in August. Like the NDRC’s Zhang, Zhou said that China’s data in September and October had pointed to the economy stabilizing.

Industrial production, fixed-asset investment and retail sales accelerated in October, government reports showed on Nov. 9, signaling that economic growth will exceed PremierWen Jiabao’s 7.5 percent target for his last year in office. China is confident it will achieve expansion this year of at least 7.5 percent, Zhang said. — Bloomberg