BEIJING - Chinese economy has bottomed out but will need two to three years to regain its rapid growth, a researcher with the country's top think-tank was quoted by state media as saying.

"Although the economy has bottomed out, it is touching a flat bottom, instead of a V-shaped bottom," Zhang Wenkui of the State Council's Development Research Center was quoted by Xinhua as saying on Sunday.

"The recovery will be very mild and unstable," he added. "It will not be stable, quick and sustained."

Although China's fixed asset investment jumped 30.5 pe rcent in the first four months, Zhang said that mainly came from government-sponsored infrastructure projects.

Another critical driver of the economy - exports, which fell 22.6 per cent in the first four months - is a drag on economic growth, he added.

Zhang said China's economy needed two or three years to grow quickly again, and suggested the automobile, housing and computer technology sectors would be the next driving forces.

He also predicted that the government would roll out more stimulus measures in the third quarter to bolster the economy. -Reuters