Home>>China
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 15, 2002

Roundup: Premier Zhu Rongji Meets Press

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said Friday that the current government has fulfilled all its promises and he is satisfied with the government's performance over the past four years.


PRINT DISCUSSION CHINESE SEND TO FRIEND


Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said Friday that the current government has fulfilled all its promises and he is satisfied with the government's performance over the past four years.

The premier said he was "proud of the unprecedented rapid development of the Chinese economy" over the years thanks to the government's proactive financial policy.

The government's proactive financial policy and prudent monetary policy have been working well, and the Chinese economy would otherwise have collapsed, he said when answering questions at a press conference after the conclusion of the 5th Session of the 9th National People's Congress.

The economic growth target of seven percent for 2002 is within reach, the premier said, adding that the target was set after having considered various factors, including the slowdown in the world economy.

The actual operation of the economy in the first quarter this year has been "better than I had expected," Zhu said, quoting predicts by the National Bureau Statistics that China's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow 7.5 percent in the first three months this year on an annual basis.

"That gives me more confidence that the seven percent growth target can be met," Zhu said.

The premier said China's fiscal deficits and government debts are both controlled below the internationally accepted warning line.

Zhu noted that most countries in the world have deficits, and the problem lies not in whether or not one country has deficits, but on whether or not the deficits are within the country's bearing capacity and what causes the deficits.

China's has budgeted deficits of 309.8 billion yuan for 2002, about three percent of the GDP, and the amount of its outstanding treasury bonds stand at 1.87 trillion yuan, about 18 percent of the GDP, both below the internationally accepted warning line.

Most of the deficits are attributable to spending on infrastructure construction, he said, adding that the current government will leave to the next government 2.5 trillion yuan of quality assets that will go a long way to promoting social and economic development.

Talking about the banking sector, Zhu said that some irregularities in some banking branches will not affect the image and reform of China's banking industry.

He said the country's widening gap between the rich and the poor is expected to be narrowed in the future. China has adopted a number of policies and measures to help the low-income groups in China, including the country's peasants, and laid-off workers, the unemployed as well as retirees.

In the meantime, the Chinese government attaches great attention to establishing a national social security system to care for the laid-off, unemployed and retired workers, another major task for the government, he added.

The government will move to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor through fiscal budget arrangements and taxation reform, and tax policies will be the most important means to solve the problem.

"I think the problem will be tackled after a certain period of time," said the premier, adding that increasing farmers' income remains his top concern.

On the Taiwan question, Zhu said that there is no change in China's policy in this respect. China still sticks to the policy of "Peaceful Reunification," "One Country, Two Systems" and the "Eight-Point Proposal" advanced by President Jiang Zemin.

"We will not undertake to renounce the use of force in solving the Taiwan issue," Zhu said, "but that's directed at the die-hard elements for Taiwan independence. And we don't have to repeat it every day and every month."

The premier said that Hong Kong will maintain its status as a regional financial center in Asia. Since Hong Kong's GDP is as large as that of Guangdong Province, no major cities in China's inland can replace it. Hong Kong's status as a regional financial center is irreplaceable, he stressed.

He confirmed that the central government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government are trying to find ways to promote cooperation between the inland and Hong Kong SAR.

China's entry into the World Trade Organization has provided more opportunities for Hong Kong to cooperate with the inland in economic development, and the central government is sure to cooperate with the Hong Kong SAR government in any thing that is good for Hong Kong's development.

Zhu also answered questions about Sino-U.S. trade, China's relations with Russia, and exchanges between China and Japan.





Questions?Comments? Click here
    Advanced

Major Points of Premier Zhu's Press Conference 



>> Full Coverage

 

Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved