A senior Chinese planning official told reporters on Friday that the new 4 trillion yuan (US$586 billion) economic stimulus package includes 1.18 trillion yuan from the central government through 2010.

Mu Hong, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the agency would add 100 billion yuan of new investment during the fourth quarter.

The central government's investment, combined with that of businesses and local governments, would bring the total spending to 4 trillion yuan by the end of 2010, he said.

"The 4 trillion yuan is only part of the country's total investment. It is not the total," Mu said.

Officials have said that a "large part" of the total package was new money, but they have not provided specific figures.

The stimulus package was announced on Sunday amid rising concern about a sharp slowdown in the world's fourth-largest economy. China's gross domestic product grew 9 percent annually in the third quarter, down from 10.1 percent in the second quarter and 10.6 percent in the first quarter.

"To boost domestic demand has become the priority of current economic work," Mu told reporters. He added the package would stimulate both short- and long-term demand, as it would spur economic growth while transforming the type of growth.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2008)