BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's economy is likely to grow at a rate of less than 9 percent next year, due to the faltering economic recovery of the largest developed countries, China Daily reported Wednesday.

If the global demand fails to improve next year, China's economic growth may fall below 9 percent, the newspaper quoted Huang Guobo, chief economist at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, as saying.

If so, it would be the first time this has happened since 2001, the newspaper said.

The deteriorating sovereign debt crisis in some large economies reduced worldwide market confidence, which will challenge China's economy in the future, Huang said at a forum in Beijing.

Partly due to the country's tightened monetary policy, China's gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 9.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2011, tapering off from the 9.7-percent growth posted in the first quarter of this year and 9.8 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Last week, UBS AG also downgraded its forecast for China's GDP growth from 9.3 percent to 9 percent in 2011 and from 9 percent to 8.3 percent in 2012, according to the newspaper.

Source:Wang Xiaomei