The Chinese central bank on Thursday announced a rise in its official lending rates in what analysts said was an attempt to guide its economy to a slower path of growth. The Chinese economy has started to slow in recent months but is still expanding at a energetic rate, absorbing imports from the rest of the world and has been one of the factors driving up the price of oil and other global comodities. The bank raised its benchmark one-year yuan lending rate to 5.58 percent from 5.31 percent, and the rate on one-year deposits to 2.25 percent from 1.98 percent. "China had been using administrative means to try to rein in strong investment growth. Investment has slowed but the pace is probably still too strong ... so this move is obviously trying to rein in investment further and engineer a soft landing, said Sarah Hewin, senior economist, American Express Bank in London. Last week the government said the economy had grown by a still very robust 9.1 percent in the third quarter of 2004 compared with the year earlier period.///