BEIJING, Oct 27 (Reuters) - China will keep pro-export policies in place next year even though overseas shipments are likely to grow about 10 percent, a leading government economist said on Tuesday.
"That's a conservative forecast," said Zhang Xiaoji, a researcher with the Development Research Centre, a think-tank under the State Council, China's cabinet.
Exports in September were 15.2 percent below their level a year earlier, and the government expects a double-digit fall for all of 2009.
This year's low base will provide a platform for next year's rebound, Zhang told a forum organised by the Economic Observer, a Beijing-based weekly.
He said he expected export growth to be higher than, or at least on a par with, growth in China's gross domestic product in 2010.
Net exports shaved 3.6 percentage points off headline GDP growth of 8.9 percent in the third quarter as Chinese manufacturers continued to reel from a slump in global trade.
China has scrapped some export taxes and increased tax rebates on a wide range of goods to help the export sector, and Zhang said he expected these policies to remain in place.
"Vice Premier Li Keqiang said China would keep tax policies stable, and I believe that applies to export tax rebate policies as well," he said.
The head of the Development Research Centre, Zhang Yutai, forecast a rise of 8-10 percent in 2010 exports when he spoke in Geneva on Monday. [ID:nLQ102849] (Reporting by Zhou Xin and Alan Wheatley; Editing by Ken Wills)