Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji Wednesday expressed his confidence in
Chinese economy in his speech on the Sixth World Chinese
Entrepreneurs Convention in Nanjing, capital of east China's
Jiangsu Province.
Zhu said,since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and
particularly, since the introduction of reform and opening-up,
China's economy has flourished day by day and grown rapidly. At
this new starting point in history, China is moving steadily
towards greater opening-up and economic prosperity.
The following are the full text of Zhu's speech:
Distinguished Guests,
Dear Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It
is of special significance to have the Sixth World Chinese
Entrepreneurs Convention held in China at the dawn of the new
century. On behalf of the Chinese Government and people, I would
like to extend our warm welcome to the overseas Chinese
entrepreneurs from all parts of the world.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and
particularly, since the introduction of reform and opening-up,
China's economy has flourished day by day and grown rapidly. At
this new starting point in history, China is moving steadily
towards greater opening-up and economic prosperity.
China's economy has withstood rigorous tests in recent years in the
complicated and changeable economic climate. We have successfully
fended off the impact of the Asia financial crisis and achieved a
sustained and rapid development. Since the beginning of this year,
the world economy has visibly slowed down its growth, but our
economy has maintained a good momentum of growth. In the first half
of this year, our GDP grew by 7.9 percent over the same period of
last year. The first eight months of this year have witnessed an
increase of 10.4 percent in the added value of our industry over
the same period of last year, 24. 7 percent in revenue, 18.9
percent in the investment in fixed assets, 10.1 percent in social
retail sales of consumption commodities, 1.2 percent in CPI, 9.6
percent in import and export which amounted to US$330.532 billion,
and 7.3 percent in export which reached US$170.994 billion. The
foreign direct investment actually used reached US$27.44 billion,
representing an increase of 20.4 percent over the same period of
last year. By September 15, the foreign exchange reserves had
amounted to US$193.5 billion. The financial sector is also in good
shape. China's economy has continued to develop along the healthy
track of fast growth, high efficiency and low inflation. All these
achievements have not come about easily. They are the result of the
forceful policy measures taken by the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China with President Jiang Zemin at the core in
a timely fashion, following a comprehensive assessment of the
overall situation. Basing ourselves on boosting domestic demand, we
have adopted the pro-active fiscal policy and prudent monetary
policy. We have tried to ensure the continuity of our policies and
at the same time adopted drastic policies as far as they are
necessary. We have given priority to infrastructure and increased
input in science and technology, education and environmental
protection. We have also worked hard to raise the income of both
urban and rural residents, people of low-income groups in
particular. In addition, we have quickened the industrial
restructuring and the reform and reorganization of state-owned
enterprises, and have adopted various measures to boost export. The
policies and principles we have adopted have proven to be sound and
correct and they have played and will continue to play an important
role in promoting the healthy development of the national
economy.
With the advent of the new century, the reform, opening-up and
socialist modernization drive in China have entered a new
development stage. In response to the accelerating trend towards
economic globalization, the surging technological revolution and
the world development trend, we will vigorously implement the
strategies of restructuring China's economy, developing the western
areas, rejuvenating the nation through science and education and
seeking a sustainable development. These strategies will help
improve the innovative capacity of our economy, its competitiveness
and its capabilities to fend off risks, and furthermore to enable
our economy to grow to a larger scale and higher level.
--Strategic restructuring of our economy is a pressing and
important task. We will press ahead with industrialization and lose
no time in stepping up informatization of economic and social
development, which will in turn push forward industrialization and
modernization of the national economy. We will step up the
agricultural restructuring to replace the traditional agriculture
with modern farming. We will forcefully develop the new and high-
tech industries and improve the modern service industry and
transform and upgrade traditional industries with extensive use of
advanced technologies. We will actively and prudently build more
cities and towns. In a word, all-round readjustments and
optimization of economic structure will help build a sound
interaction between the agricultural, industrial and service
sectors, between traditional and high-tech industries, and between
the rural and urban economies and promote common prosperity.
--To develop China's west more vigorously is a measure of strategic
significance to a coordinated development of local economies and to
a broader scope for the development of the national economy. In the
coming years, our priority will be given to infrastructure and
ecological environment. We will try to make breakthroughs in these
areas in five to ten years. At present, a number of key projects
have been launched such as pumping natural gas and electricity from
the west to the east of China, building the Qinghai-Tibet railway
line, preserving forests and restoring cultivated land back to
forests. These projects bear on the overall development of the
central and western parts of China. They are now progressing
smoothly. The central government has decided to give policy
incentives particularly to the west, provide greater support to the
west in terms of capital input, the grant of projects and fiscal
transfer payment, and introduce policies and measures to attract
domestic and foreign investments to China's west. The vast west of
China is ringing in a new period of great development.
--
Close attention must be paid to education, science and technology
with strategic importance given to technical innovation and the
training of professionals. We will build up a national innovation
system, encourage enterprises to play a dominant role in technical
progress and innovation, and increase their capacity for
independent innovation. We will endeavor to make some major
breakthroughs in the hi-tech sector by pooling strength from
various quarters and turn scientific research into mass production
in a big way. We will improve education and hence the all-round
quality of our nationals. We will implement a human resources
strategy to attract competent professionals from everywhere and
produce a large number of new-type professionals who meet the needs
of times.
--
We will never waver in seeking a sustainable development. We will
continue to implement the basic state policies of family planning
and environmental protection, and adopt an integrated approach to
the improvement of the land and the ecological environment. We will
make an effort to promote a new production and consumption mode
that is conducive to resources saving and environmental protection
so as to build beautiful and prosperous homeland.
The basic experience we have learned from our efforts for a
sustained, rapid economic growth in the past twenty years is to put
in place a socialist market economy through reform and develop an
open economy. We will unswervingly deepen reform and open wider to
the outside world so that a lasting and more powerful engine will
push our economy forward more forcefully.
--
We will continue to promote the in-depth reform of the economic
system. To this end, efforts will be made to consolidate and
develop an ownership system with public sector playing a dominant
role and all other sectors developing side by side by readjusting
and improving the ownership structure. We will actively explore
various forms of the public ownership and deepen the reform of
state-owned enterprises extensively with a view to establishing a
sound modern corporation system. We are now considering what
measures to take in order to restructure such monopoly industries
as power, railway, civil aviation and telecommunications. We will
put in place a new order of the socialist market economy through
improving our market system and rectifying and regulating the
market behavior. Measures will be taken to accelerate the
establishment of a social security system, or a safety net so as to
create a stable social climate for the reform and development.
--
We will more vigorously promote an all-directional, mutil- level
and broad-sector opening-up pattern. Once inside the WTO, we will
honor our commitments to open our market wider to the outside
world, both sector-wise and geographical-wise. We will open our
service sector step by step, including banking, insurance,
telecommunications, trade and tourism, and explore new forms and
channels to use foreign funds. We will closely combine our efforts
to attract foreign funds with those to readjust industrial
structure, develop China's west and deepen the reform of state-
owned enterprises, and particularly import more advanced
technologies, modern managerial expertise and specialized
professionals. On our part, we will keep improving the environment
for investment and business operation and protect rights and
interests of investors in accordance with law. At the same time, we
will encourage viable Chinese enterprises to invest and do business
abroad. All these measures are designed to enhance economic
exchanges and cooperation with other countries.
Despite various difficulties at present and challenges in the way
ahead, China enjoys many favorable conditions for its economic
development. Among others, we have a huge domestic market and rich
human resources, social and political stability and a development
road that suits China. We have friends all over the world, and in
particular, we enjoy the caring and support of the vast number of
overseas Chinese. We will continue to adhere unswervingly to our
own road of development and we have full confidence in and
capability of tiding over all the difficulties and obstacles on our
way ahead and advancing our national economy forward more
soundly.
A
more open and prosperous economy in China will not only greatly
benefit the more than one billion Chinese people, but also provide
a large market and unlimited business opportunities to
entrepreneurs of all countries, including businessmen of Chinese
origin, hence making greater contribution to the prosperity and
development of the world economy.
Mr. Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China's reform and
opening-up, once said that tens of millions of overseas Chinese are
a great force and they offer unique opportunities for a big
development of China. Over the years, overseas Chinese have
enthusiastically supported and participated in China's economic
development in various ways. Overseas Chinese in fact funds most of
the foreign-funded enterprises in China. They are made indelible
contribution to China's remarkable economic achievement. With the
eternal love for the country of your origin, you have overcome
various difficulties and made many contributions. Your pioneering
spirit has already been written into the glorious annals of China's
economic development. We have Chinese friends everywhere in the
world. Among them, there are specialized professionals in all
areas, who know very well both the international market practices
and Chinese cultural traditions. They have unique advantages in
developing their business in China. They will find a lot of good
opportunities for big development in China no matter whether they
have already made investment here or are still looking for business
opportunities. We sincerely hope that all the overseas Chinese
entrepreneurs will continue to participate in China's modernization
drive in various ways.
Full of vigor and vitality, China's economy is moving ahead rapidly
to a new level. Let us join hands and work hard for the realization
of modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation
in the new century!
I
wish the convention a great success!
Thank you.
(
09/20/2001)