THE World Bank has cut its forecast for China's 2012 growth to 8.2 per cent from 8.4 per cent, but said the government still has plenty of firepower to avoid a "hard landing," reports the Financial Times.

The bank advised that more stimulus spending should not be credit-driven or focus on infrastructure investment. "The burden of any countercyclical response should fall on fiscal policy," it said in the organisation's regional bi-annual report.

"Fiscal measures to support consumption, such as targeted tax cuts, social welfare spending and other social expenditures, should be viewed as the first priority," the report said.

Separately, China's State Council said the government would "proactively take policies and measures to expand demand and to create a favourable policy environment for stable and relatively fast growth", including speeding up planned rail, environment and rural infrastructure projects.