The dragon is on a high.

China's National Bureau of Statistics said that the country's gross domestic product during the first quarter grew at an impressive 9.7 per cent, reported the Financial Times.

The Financial Times said that the growth far exceeds estimates, but raises doubts over the effectiveness of China's attempts to control the growth rate.

India's economy too grew at a blistering pace to overtake China as Asia's fastest growing economy having posted a GDP growth rate of 10.4 per cent between October and December 2003.

China's GDP, which grew 7.9 per cent during the first quarter last year, had reached Rmb 2,710.6 billion by the end of March. Fixed-asset investment grew a staggering 43 per cent to Rmb 879.9 billion, while the consumer price index went up by 2.8 per cent, compared with 0.5 per cent in the same period last year, said the Financial Times.

Despite a growth of 9.7 per cent, China's growth slipped a notch when compared with the previous quarter when the dragon recorded 9.9 per cent growth. However, analysts forecast a growth of just around 9.2 per cent, said the Financial Times.

Analysts also said that the high growth was a setback to China's attempt to control its runaway economic growth. The country had expressed worry over unrestrained bank loans, over-investment in industries, huge rise in fixed-asset investment, and rising inflation, reported the Financial Times.