Central Economic Working Conference Held in Beijing

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Central Economic Working Conference Held in Beijing

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council jointly held a two-day central economic work conference that closed Tuesday. Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered an important speech on the major economic tasks for 2003 and Premier Zhu Rongji unveiled an all-round plan on the year's economic work.

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Chinese leaders concluded a meeting Tuesday to review its economic work in 2002 and formulate guidelines for economic development in 2003.

At the Central Economic Work Conference jointly held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council on December 9 and 10, Vice-President Hu Jintao, who is also general secretary of the 16th Central Committee of the CPC,summed up 2002's economic work, analyzed the domestic and international situation and proposed a general outline for 2003.

Premier Zhu Rongji unveiled a comprehensive strategy for the major tasks necessary for China's reform, development and stability.

Top leaders Li Lanqing, Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong,Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan attended the conference presided over by Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao.

While stressing proper planning and economic efficiency, the leaders also emphasized continuity of macroeconomic policies and called for solving conspicuous problems in social and economic activities.

The conference said the just-concluded 16th National Congress of the CPC had greatly stirred the public's enthusiasm for building socialism with Chinese characteristics and next year's economic work would be crucial to the full implementation of the guidelines established by the congress.

It called for all CPC members to emancipate their minds, seek truth from facts and carry out more reforms for bringing about moderate affluence to the country.

It also said that the country's gross domestic output in 2002 would top 10 trillion yuan (1.2 trillion US dollars) which would be a hard-won achievement amid the global economic downturn.

The general guideline stressed the importance of expanding domestic consumption and continuing with the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy in 2003.

It called for efforts to promote sustained, rapid and healthy economic growth by deepening reform, opening wider to the outside world, quickening industrial restructuring, accelerating the development of agriculture and the rural economy and taking a new road to industrialization.

To improve living standards and maintain social stability, the conference said employment and re-employment work must be well done and the social security system must be improved.

Taking development as the main theme for the economic work of 2003, the conference said the proactive fiscal policy would continue and more state bonds would be issued to facilitate economic development.

Capital raised through the bonds would be channeled to major construction projects, to rural areas,for improving rural living and productive conditions and increasing farmers' incomes, and toecological conservation programs.

The funds would also be spent on facilitating the country's technical advancement, helping enterprises make more technical renovations to secure sustained development and on creating more favorable conditions for central and western China to build up their economies.

The conference said the government encouraged non-state investment in important sectors and major construction programs, but would remain guarded against wasteful duplications in construction. The task of broadening the sources of financial income and reducing unnecessary expenditure would become a top priority. The financial sector would be mobilized to support economic growth.

Economic restructuring would forge ahead as a long-term task and governments at various levels should concentrate on the supervision and regulation of markets and provide necessary services as required by the developing market economy.

On industrial restructuring, the conference said the fundamental position of agriculture should be secured and the development of townships should be accelerated to create more job opportunities for redundant rural labor.

It also stressed that industrialization must be pushed forward in a way to boost the development of both new high-tech sectors and labor-intensive sectors.

The development of tertiary industry, the upgrading of traditional sectors and the transformation of old industrial bases would also be quickened.

The conference said the basic economic system with public ownership playing a dominant role and diverse forms of ownership developing side by side would be unswervingly upheld and improved.

China would boost the development of the public economy and continue to encourage, support and guide the growth of non-public economy, it said.

There are altogether four reforms recognized as major tasks, which are related to the management of state enterprises and state assets, rural economic mechanisms, financial systems and the administrative management system.

To push forward these reforms, the conference said more efforts must be made to improve the legal and credit environments and institutions.

More attention would be given to the country's foreign trade as both the export structure and the utilization of foreign investment needed to be further optimized.

Given the improvement in living standards was the goal of building a comparatively affluent society, the conference said the country would strive to increase the incomes of all Chinese by exploring more job opportunities and improving the social securitysystem.

More funds would be put into poverty relief programs and flexible employment would be encouraged, it said.

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