MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) - Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has said China is likely to achieve an 8% economic growth target this year, Xinhua reported.

"We have taken a series of effective measures to ensure that China's economy can stabilize and move forward," he said.

He added that in the first half of the current year, China recorded a 7.1% growth of GDP.

Developing at such a pace, "we can achieve the expected annual growth of 8%," he said.