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An enduring theme in the modern world, innovation is vital for enterprises to win fierce competition, Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo said Tuesday in Beijing.
Wu made the remark at the Sixth Annual CEO Forum themed "rethinking the 21st century corporation: balancing turbulence, power and responsibility," which was co-sponsored by US magazine Business Week and the China Enterprise Confederation.
Considering the trend of economic globalization, large-scale enterprises need to tap their comparative advantages in the global market, he said, noting Chinese enterprises, especially state-owned giants, should promote their innovation capabilities in product development, technology invention and management.
On China's economic situation, he said from 1997 to 2001, due to the enlargement of domestic demand as well as to policies of active finance and stable currency, China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual average rate of 7.8 percent, and in the first nine months of this year, China's GDP increased 7.9 percent on a year-on-year base.
China has made remarkable achievements in reforming its state-owned enterprises, he said, noting that their profits in 2000 had doubled twice since 1997. In 2001, when the top 500 world enterprises witnessed a 50 percent decrease of profits, Chinese state-owned enterprises still maintained the record-high level of 2000.
In the first nine months of this year, the industrial added value from state-owned enterprises increased 10.8 percent over the same period last year, he said, expecting their profits this year to reach or exceed the level of 2001.
Since joining the World Trade Organization last year, China has done a lot to create the necessary market and legal environment for fair competition among domestic and overseas enterprises, he said.
WTO membership not only injects new energy into the Chinese economy, but brings unprecedented opportunities for overseas businessmen to enter the Chinese market, he said.
( October 23, 2002)
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