Crucial Period Ahead for Chinese Economy: Chinese Finance Minister

The period immediately ahead is crucial to China's economic adjustment and development, as well as the country's further opening-up to the outside world, after the economy witnessed a significant turning point late last year, Chinese Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng said in Bangkok Wednesday.

"The economy is estimated to grow 8 percent in 2000, as the three engines of investment, consumption and export growth have accelerated and the aggregate demand surged up," he told a massive audience of local officials and entrepreneurs in a speech.

For the first time, he said China's Gross Domestic Products (GDP) is expected to exceed one trillion US dollars at the current exchange rate.

The recent Asian crisis has affected China negatively, leading to declines in trade, export, and foreign investment while putting its currency under unprecedented devaluation pressure, since it broke out in mid-1997, Xiang recalled.

"However, under an expansionary fiscal policy and appropriate monetary guidelines to spur the domestic demand, China has successfully held the momentum of a slowdown in economic growth, and maintained relatively high growth of 7.8 percent and 7.1 percent in 1998 and 1999, respectively, " he said.

During the short-term future within five years ahead, the minister said China will treat development as the main theme, restructuring as the central task, while taking reform, opening-up, and scientific progress as the engines, and shouldering the improvement of people's living standard as the fundamental task.

The goal for the above tasks is to achieve a rapid and efficient economic growth through economic restructuring, while laying firm groundwork for doubling China's GDP of 2000 in the year of 2010, the mid-term objective, according to him.

However, the senior official said the country is fully aware of the various challenges ahead in its economic growth.

"On the international side, with globalization gearing up and worldwide structure adjustment intensifying rapidly, international competition is formidable, " he said.

"Internally, the economic recovery has yet to be consolidated, as the still-weak demand is posing a big threat."

Facing these challenges, China will continue its expansionary fiscal stance to stimulate domestic demand while further deepening structural adjustment, he said.

Xiang was invited by Bangkok Bank, Thailand's top bank, to give a lecture about China's macro-economic policy and situation, as well as the regional economic cooperation.

He arrived here late Tuesday and will leave for a visit to Japan on Friday.






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