BEIJING, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Runaway growth in a number of sectors from steel to automobile manufacturing is boosting the cost of raw materials and hurting industries across China, a newspaper quoted a top government official on Thursday as saying.
The comments were the latest in a series of warnings issued by the powerful State Development and Reform Commission which oversees China's booming economy, the world's sixth largest.
Excessive growth in some sectors was also straining transport and power supplies, the official China Daily cited Ma Liqiang, head of the commission's economic operations bureau, as saying.
Failure to check a surge in investment and production in sectors such as steel, aluminium, cement and car manufacturing could have a big impact on the overall economy, Ma said.
China's economy was up 8.5 percent in the first three quarters compared to the same period a year earlier, sparking debate among economists as to whether the economy is in danger overheating.
The consistently fast growth rates have also become a hot political issue in the United States where lawmakers blame Beijing's fixed exchange rate policy for keeping the price of Chinese products artificially low and hurting U.S. manufacturers. ($1=8.276 Yuan)