Quality of China's National Economic Growth Improved: Premier

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said in Beijing today that the quality of China's national economic growth in 1999 improved.

At the opening meeting of the Third Session of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) held this morning, Zhu said the objective for the growth rate of the gross domestic product ( GDP) was attained; there were structural adjustments in the economy; and economic performance improved noticeably. There was a good harvest, and preliminary improvements were achieved in the pattern of farming, he said.

Industrial production continued to grow while structural adjustments were being made. Some outmoded production capacity was eliminated; production of unmarketable goods decreased; and the sales rate of products rose steadily.

State revenue was 150.1 billion yuan more than the figure for 1998. Total national revenue reached 1.1377 trillion yuan, exceeding one trillion yuan for the first time. There was stability in banking and financial operations, and money supply and total credit continued to increase.

The volume of exports began to rise remarkably in July, and total exports reached 194.9 billion U.S. dollars in 1999, a rise of 6.1 percent over the previous year.

The actual use of direct investment from overseas continued on a relatively large scale, but decreased slightly over the previous year. The exchange rates for the Renminbi remained stable. Foreign exchange reserves totaled 154.7 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 1999.

Premier Zhu said that these achievements are due to the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core grasping the overall situation and exercising correct leadership, adding that these achievements are also attributed to the hard work of the people throughout the country.

He said that the central authorities maintained a correct understanding of the trends in economic growth so that at the critical moment when there was an economic downturn in the second quarter of 1999, they were able to resolutely make important policy decisions that stimulated domestic demand by issuing more treasury bonds and increasing personal incomes and to fully use macro-economic measures to encourage investment, consumption and exports.

All these have played an important role in promoting economic growth and improving economic performance.

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