China's Defence Industry Breaks Even in 2002

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 09, 2003

China's Defence Industry Breaks Even in 2002

China's defence industry broke even in 2002 after eight consecutive years in the red, officials said Wednesday. China's defense industry should build on its past achievements and make new progress in the new era,Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo said in a letter addressed to a national conference on science, technology and industry for national defense.

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China's defence industry broke even in 2002 after eight consecutive years in the red, officials said Wednesday.

The turnaround was partly driven by the conversion of military facilities into producers of civilian goods.

In 2002, military industrial firms scored a year-on-year added-value growth rate slightly faster than national average -- which was estimated at 9.6 per cent -- Liu Jibin, minister of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, told a national meeting in Beijing.

In a letter addressed to the meeting, Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo urged the defence industry to build on its past achievements and make further progress in a new era.

Over the past few years, high technology in military industries has been increasingly mobilized for civilian use, Liu said.

Since 1998, for example, the development of civil aerospace has seen China launch into orbit satellites and unmanned spacecrafts for meteorological, space exploration, environment and disaster monitoring purposes , he said.

Advances in nuclear power for civil use has helped China become one of the few countries in the world to export nuclear power station technology, according to Liu.

The civilian shipbuilding industry has also become a highly competitive, key export industry. It has chalked up exports of US$8.54 billion over the past five years.

Liu also said China has made enormous progress in the research and manufacture of new and high- tech weapons in the past five years.

China has 11 military industrial group corporations in the nuclear, aerospace, aviation, shipbuilding and weaponry sectors.

Apart from reinforcing national defence, these industries will continue to contribute to national economic development in the new year, Liu said.

Vice-Premier urges advances in defense industry

China's defense industry should build on its past achievements and make new progress in the new era, Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo said in a letter addressed to a national conference on science, technology and industry for national defense.

Addressing the conference that opened Wednesday in Beijing, Wu, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said China's defense industry has made remarkable achievements in recent years.

He said the technology, the quality of the equipment and the financial status of this sector have improved markedly.

He urged people in this sector to continue to work hard and make greater contributions to China's defense industry in the new era.

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