Hu Jintao Reveals China's Reform, Development, Stability

Visiting Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao said Monday that China has scored tremendous success in its economic and social developments, thanks to the reform and opening-up over the last 20 years and more.

Addressing before the Indonesian Council on World Affairs here, Hu said that as a big developing country with one third of Asia's population and one fifth of Asia total area, China has the attention of Asia and the rest of the world with its development.

"Its national economy enjoys a sustained and rapid growth. From 1978 to 1999, China's GDP increased by 5.8 times, which represents an average annual growth rate of 9.6 percent. Its agriculture and rural economy have developed at a high speed, with a big increase in the output of major agricultural products," he said.

Hu also said that China's total grain output has been maintained at around 500 million tons, which has ensured adequate food for its 1.2 billion people. Its industrial production has grown continuously through the readjustment of industrial structure, and the reform of state-owned enterprises has made important headway.

China's foreign trade has continued to expand with its total imports and exports during 1978 to 1999 rose from 20.6 billion U.S. dollars to 360.7 billion U.S. dollars, registering an average annual increase of 14.6 percent.

"Its foreign exchange reserve has reached 158 billion U.S. dollars. The people livelihood has been improved markedly. From 1978 to 1999, the urban and rural residents' income increased by 3. 7 times and 2.6 times respectively. The rural poverty population was reduced from 250 million to 34 million," Hu said.

He also said that the Chinese people have made a great historical step forward in their living standards, from mere subsistence to a relatively comfortable life.

In the meantime, all-around development has been achieved in science and technology, education and all other social undertakings.

"Having said that, we are soberly aware that China is still a developing country with a relatively low level of development, and its per capita GDP is still lower than that of developed countries and even some developing countries as well. We still have a lot of difficulties and problems on our road ahead. They include among others: inadequate effective demand, the still serious irrationality of economic structure, the growing employment pressures and the ever more acute contradiction between economic development on the one hand and population, resources and environment on the other," Hu said.

Hu also said that the Chinese government have taken and are still taking a series of macro-economic control measures to address the issue, saying that initial results have been achieved.

...saying that initial results have been achieved. "Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has begun to regain the momentum of rapid growth. In the first half of this year, China's GDP grew by 8.2 percent. The entire national economy is embarking on a track of sound development," Hu said.

With the advent of the new century, he said, China will enter a new stage of its development at which it will accelerate the modernization drive with a view to ensuring a relatively affluent life to its people. Hu is also optimistic about the prospect of China's economic development and is confident of maintaining the momentum of sustained and rapid economic growth.

Hu further said that to attain its objective, the Chinese government will continue to do a good job in the following areas:

Firstly, promoting the strategic readjustment of economic structure, actively. Secondly, pressing ahead with the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, and the strategy of sustainable development. Thirdly, stepping-up the in- depth economic restructuring and, fourthly, opening wider to the outside world.

In connection with the readjustment of its economic structure, Hu said, China will step up the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, vigorously develop hi-tech industries and build an information-based national economy. "We will improve and upgrade the industrial structure and accelerate the development of China's western region so as to achieve a coordinated development of regional economies," he said.

The vice-president also said that China will strengthen the environmental protection and ecological preservation and work to achieve sustainable development.

To step-up the in-depth economic restructuring, Hu said that Chinese government will deepen the reform on its state-owned enterprises and encourage and guide a healthy development of individual, private and other non-public economies.

Meanwhile, in its bid to open wider to the outside world, Hu said that China will adapt itself to meet the requirements of China's imminent WTO accession, modify its laws and regulations according to international practices and create a better environment for foreign investment in China.

"The Chinese market, with its tremendous potentials, will provide boundless business opportunities for other countries in the world. We welcome investment in China by entrepreneurs from all Asian countries including Indonesia, and we also encourage vibrant Chinese business to invest and open business abroad so that Asian countries can achieve common progress on the basis of mutual benefit," Hu said.



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