Following is the translation version of full text of Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao's speech delivered here Thursday at the
Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions, or Summer Davos,
hosted by the World Economic Forum:
A Growing China Embraces a Bright
Future
Wen Jiabao
Premier of the State Council Of the People's
Republic of China
The World Economic Forum Summer Davos 2007
6 September, 2007
Dear Professor Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World
Economic Forum,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me start by extending, on behalf of the Chinese Government
and in my own name, warm congratulations on the opening of the
World Economic Forum Summer Davos 2007 in Dalian and cordial
greetings to you.
It has been 36 years since the inception of the Forum in 1971.
Starting from this year, the Forum will hold an annual Summer Davos
in China. This shows the world's increasing interest in China's
economic development and the growing cooperation between China and
the Forum. The key to the success of the Forum is that political
and business leaders, experts and scholars from various countries
participate in the Forum with sincere wishes for equality and
mutual respect. With a strong sense of responsibility and mission,
they are committed to discussing major and potential issues of the
world economy, paying greater attention to underdeveloped regions
and people in poverty, and playing an active role in promoting
development, progress and harmony of the world. This should be the
spirit of the World Economic Forum.
The name of this meeting, namely, "The Inaugural Annual Meeting
of the New Champions -- From Davos to Dalian" and the continued
theme of "Shifting Power Equation" are fitting ones and highly
relevant, as they reflect both the international community's focus
on the fast growing companies and regions and its strong desire to
establish a new international economic order.
Since China's economic development is high on the meeting's
agenda, I wish to talk to you about the progress in China's
development endeavors.
Since it embarked on the path of reform and opening-up nearly 30
years ago, China has seen profound economic and social changes.
China has succeeded in transforming itself from a closed and semi-
closed planned economy into an open socialist market economy. There
has been a great change in the life of the Chinese people, from
lack of basic living necessities to moderate prosperity. China has
also made important progress in political, cultural and social
reforms and remarkable achievements in its modernization drive.
From 1978 to 2006, China's GDP registered an annual growth rate of
9.7%. During this period, its import and export surged to US$1.76
trillion from US$20.6 billion, the per capita consumption of its
urban and rural population increased by over 4 times in real terms,
and the poor rural population dropped to 20 million from 250
million. These achievements are possible because we have embarked
on a correct path of development that is suited to China' s
particular conditions and is in keeping with the trend of the
times.
On the other hand, I want to tell you frankly that China is
still a developing country with a large population, weak economic
foundation and underdeveloped productivity. This is a reality that
has basically remained unchanged. Although the overall size of
China's economy is large, its per capita GDP is ranked behind over
100 countries. Uneven development between urban and rural areas and
among different regions is still an acute problem. China, a big
country with over one billion population, has encountered a host of
intertwined problems and difficulties in the course of social
transformation. Modernization remains a long-term goal for
China.
China's economy is on the whole in good shape, marked by
sustained and fast economic growth, sound financial performance,
growing trade and rising living standards. But problems such as
unstable factors, imbalances and lack of sustainability also affect
China's economic development. They include excessively rapid
economic growth, acute structural tensions, the inefficient pattern
of growth, depletion of resources and environmental degradation,
mounting pressure on price and entrenched structural and
institutional obstacles. To resolve these problems, we are putting
into practice the scientific thinking on development and pursuing
an innovation-based model of development. We are committed to a
comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable path of development that
puts people's interests first. Specifically, we are focusing our
efforts on the following areas:
-- Maintain fast yet steady economic growth. Excessive growth of
investment in fixed assets, oversupply of credit and loans and
sizable trade surplus are major problems in China's current
economic development. To resolve these problems, we must give top
priority to macro-regulation to prevent an already fast growing
economy from becoming overheated. We will continue to work to
strike a balance between promoting economic growth and improving
economic structure, between investment and consumption and between
domestic and external demand. We will deepen reform of the
financial sector to develop a modern banking system, a
comprehensive monetary regulatory mechanism and multi-tiered
capital market. We will continue to reform the RMB exchange rate.
We are confident that with enhanced macro-regulation, the giant
ship of Chinese economy will continue to surge ahead steadily.
-- Speed up changing the pattern of economic growth. To
accelerate economic adjustment and raise the quality and efficiency
of economic development is an urgent task facing China. We will
follow a new path of industrialization by upgrading and improving
industrial structure. We will take enhancing capacity for
independent innovation as a key step in changing the pattern of
economic growth, strengthen IPR protection and speed up scientific
and technological development and improve industrial performance in
an all-round manner. The Chinese Government takes product quality
and food safety very seriously. We are working hard to adopt
related legislations, improve the system of quality standards and
strengthen quality control to effectively resolve problems in this
area. To enhance product quality and food safety is a common task
for the international community. We will continue to work with
other countries to improve product quality and food safety.
-- Promote coordinated development. To address imbalances and
lack of coordination in development is a long and arduous strategic
task. Following the principle of making overall planning to ensure
coordinated development, we are taking forceful measures to give
stronger support to rural and other under-developed areas, speed up
the development of social programs and gradually reverse the
widening gap between agriculture and industry, between town and
country and among different regions so as to ensure coordinated
economic and social development.
-- Strive to build a resources-conserving and environment
friendly society. China is committed to saving resources and
protecting the environment. Saving energy and reducing energy and
resources consumption and pollution discharge have been set as
obligatory targets in China's plan on national economic and social
development. We have the confidence and resolve to accomplish this
arduous task through unremitting efforts. We take climate change
seriously and have formulated the national program on tackling
climate change. We will work with other members of the
international community to mitigate climate change.
-- Improve the livelihood of the people. To protect and advance
the interests of the people is the ultimate goal of all our
endeavors. We need to build a harmonious society in all aspects,
and the focus of our effort is to address issues concerning people
's livelihood. Further steps are taken to increase employment,
establish social insurance system covering both urban and rural
population and quicken the pace of educational, health and cultural
development. Vigorous efforts are being made to improve housing
conditions, transportation, the living environment and public
administration to ensure the benefit of reform and development will
reach all.
-- Deepen reform. China's economic and social development is
driven by reform. We will continue to reform the economic system,
remain committed to building a socialist market economy, bring into
full play the fundamental role of the market in resource
allocation, improve the effectiveness of the macro economic
regulation system and establish institutional safeguards which
facilitate scientific and harmonious development. We will continue
to advance political reform, expand people's democracy, strengthen
the rule of law, and promote social equity and justice. Without
political reform, economic reform will not succeed.
China's economy has maintained rapid growth for almost 30 years.
Will such development momentum continue? My answer is yes. We are
fully confident about it for the following reasons: The pursuit of
peace, development and cooperation is the trend of our times and
this has made it possible for us to secure a long term peaceful
international environment. Being in a stage of rapid
industrialization and urbanization, China has the material and
technological foundation to sustain economic growth. It has growing
market demand and an abundant and increasingly well trained labor
force. China has a large number of dynamic companies which have
emerged in the course of reform and by pursuing innovation, and it
enjoys social and political stability. We need to pursue the right
domestic and foreign policies and be able to adapt to change to
fully seize these opportunities and make good use of these
favorable conditions. Despite the difficulties, risks and
challenges on our way ahead, we have the confidence, capability and
means to surmount them and advance the modernization drive. China's
development has a bright prospect.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
China cannot achieve its development in isolation from the
world, and the world needs China to ensure its development. Over
the years, we have drawn upon the development practices of other
countries and strengthened economic and technological cooperation
and exchanges with them. This has boosted China's socio-economic
development, and we have contributed our due share to the growth of
the global economy. China will stay on the path of peaceful
development, pursue a win-win opening-up strategy, develop itself
by securing a peaceful international environment and uphold world
peace and promote common development with its development. China's
development will promote world peace and development and will never
pose a threat to any country. As China's development has shown and
will continue to show, a prosperous, democratic, harmonious,
civilized and modernized China will make even greater contribution
to maintaining world peace and promoting human progress.
The new champions are new forces in the changing world economic
environment. In particular, the global growth enterprises, which
are most dynamic, competitive, and promising, are playing a key
role in the world economic development. Here, I wish to reiterate
that China's opening-up policy will definitely remain unchanged. We
will improve the systems as well as the laws and regulations
governing foreign economic activities and make them more compatible
with international practices and the WTO rules. This will provide a
more enabling environment to foreign companies, particularly the
growth enterprises for doing business in China. China calls for
resolving trade frictions through consultation. China is ready to
enhance cooperation with all the other countries and their business
communities on the basis of equality and mutual benefit to promote
balanced, universal and win-win progress in economic
globalization.
In conclusion, I wish the Forum full success!
(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2007)
