China’s economy grew by 7.9% in the second quarter, exceeding most analysts’ expectations, and lending credence to Beijing’s goal of 8% annual growth. Now, with the nation awash in liquidity and the economy picking up steam, the only task ahead of the central government is deciding when to rein in lending and let the economy stand on its own two feet.

The momentum behind China’s economy is staggering.

“China is increasingly becoming a responsible citizen in the global community,” economist Allen Sinai of Decision Economics told The Associated Press. “No longer lawless, no longer difficult to deal with, much more responsible. It is now a powerhouse among economies and finance. And it’s a rich country.”

In just the past few weeks, two of the world’s key global institutions – the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – and a large swath of investment banks raised their 2009

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Inflation dropped back slightly in March, but it would be premature to begin to draw any substantial conclusions for the future of Chinese inflation from this. Consumer prices rose 8.3 percent in March over March 2007, down only slightly from February's 8.7 percent, which had been the highest rate in nearly 12 years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics this morning. The cost of food is up 21 percent since the beginning of the year.The price spike that began in mid-2007 has been blamed on shortages of pork, grain and other food. The government is trying to increase output by raising farm subsidies and curbing exports, but that effort was hampered by snowstorms in January and February that wrecked crops.And March inflation is still well above the 4.8 percent target that Premier Wen Jiabao has set ...