China Urged to be Builder for Knowledge Economy System: World Bank

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 14, 2001

China Urged to be Builder for Knowledge Economy System: World Bank

Confronted with the daily increasing pressure from society, politics and economy in the 21st century the latest report of the World Bank holds that China has to make, on the basis of the achievements already obtained in its economic growth and helping the poor, a big readjustment in the development strategy so as to raise and establish a new type of system and infrastructure necessary to take the helm of knowledge revolution.

December 13 saw the World Bank deliver in Beijing the latest report entitled "China and World Economy, Hold firmly the 21st Century". Resorting to the method used by the World Bank in analyzing the knowledge economy and with a view for China's knowledge economy to cope with the environment of global competition it has brought forward a series of suggestions for China to work out its policies for it.

To put it in a concrete way, the report suggests that China lay its strategic importance on the following points:

To make a renovation in economy and system framework, including the judicial and financial ones and by way of protecting the financial assets and the intellectual property rights to support investment and bring the enterprising spirits of entrepreneurs into full play.

To raise the level of education and study so as to meet the demands for new knowledge for a continuous development of new economy.

To set up an infrastructure of information industry in the supporting of education and push ahead the electronic handling of political affairs and commercial businesses.

As learned, the report suggests that China push forward creative innovation by way of actively disseminating new technology in the entire economy and in every different area of China and also by improving the public and private research and development system. So that it can raise the scientific and technological level of its economy through the use of global knowledge in international cooperation.

"China is now at the crucial moment for developing strategy and at the same time is faced with serious challenge between internal needs and external environment brought about by quickly expanded knowledge," said Yukon Huang, World Bank director in charge of the Bank's operations in China, "This has provided China a unique opportunity with which China can make a further advance on the basis of the unprecedented achievements obtained in the recent decades of years. And it can resort to the knowledge and scientific and technological revolution to promote the growth of economy and to make more and more people shake off poverty to enjoy a better life."

Mr. Huang holds, in order to keep on reducing the poor and maintaining the growth rate in the coming 10 years time it is necessary for China to triumph over a series of vehement challenges as follows:

To create 100 to 200 million new job opportunities to take in the labor-forces shifted out of agriculture and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and 8000 new labor-forces. To maintain growth rate and competitiveness: the key measure lies in solving the problem of low efficiency and bad loans of SOEs so as to diversify the variety of Chinese commodities and services. To reduce the regional disparity of income, knowledge, education and information infrastructure between the vigorously and quickly developed east and economically retarded west. To realize a sustainable development in environment, this is to be achieved by means of investment in education.

By PD Online Staff Han Rongliang

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