China said Sunday its economy grew an annual 7.3 per cent in 2001, according to a preliminary estimate, slowing from 2000 but still the envy of Asia and the world's major economies amid the global downturn.

Gross domestic product (GDP) was more than 9.58 trillion yuan ($1.16 trillion), the State Statistical Bureau said.

This marked only the second time China's GDP has exceeded $1.0 trillion, as it did in 2000 when GDP rose an annual 8.0 per cent to 8.94 trillion yuan.

"Compared to the rest of Asia, it's definitely one of the highest economic growth rates. Most of the Asian economies are doing much worse than China," said Liao Qun, senior economist for Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.

China's economic growth is the envy of Asian economies hit hard by the slowdown in the United States. Singapore and Japan are in recession, Hong Kong is on the brink and Taiwan expects its first contraction ever -- its economy reeling in the worst slump in nearly three decades.

But analysts say China will be hard pressed to maintain seven per cent growth in 2002, as its major trade partners including the United States and Japan struggle to get their economies back on track.