BEIJING, Dec 30 (Reuters) - China's economy should be able to grow at an annual rate of around 9 percent next year, an influential economist and adviser to the central bank said in remarks published on Friday.

"Unless there is a large change in the global economic environment, China should be able to maintain economic growth of around 9 percent without any problem," he said, referring to 2006.

China should not alter the basic trend of monetary policy which should be kept stable, he said.

China grew 9.5 percent in 2004 and 2003 but growth is expected by some economists to slow to between 8 and 9 percent in 2006.