Customers shop at a local supermarket adorned with sales banners in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, January 13, 2008. The government has promulgated a revised decree to deter price hikes through hoarding or cheating.  [asianewsphoto]

China's economy expanded at its fastest pace in 13 years in 2007 even after a slowdown in the fourth quarter, amid rising inflation, official figures showed on Thursday.

The country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 11.4 percent last year from 2006, said Xie Fuzhan, head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) at a press conference in Beijing.

That marked a fifth year of double-digit growth for the world's fourth largest economy after the US, Japan and Germany. The increase was especially remarkable given the fact that the United States is experiencing a slowdown due to the sub-prime crisis and housing slump.
Coupled with China's phenomenal growth was accelerating inflation which hit 4.8 percent for the whole year, far above the central bank's target of three percent.