(Reuters) - S&P Global Ratings said on Friday that it affirmed China’s ratings at A+/A-1 with a stable outlook, saying the country was likely to maintain above-average economic growth relative to other middle-income economies in the next few years. "This is in part due to its effective containment of the COVID-19 pandemic and rapid vaccine rollout," S&P said in a note on Friday. "We expect real GDP growth to come in at 8.3% this year, before moderating to about 5% from 2022-2024," it added bit.ly/3qq7Kx8. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison Williams Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.