China's Economy to Retain Robust Growth in 2001Expanding exports and investment and improving consumption will jointly propel China's economy to maintain a high growth rate in 2001, Zhu Zhixin, director of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said Wednesday.Zhu said during a press conference, held by the State Council' s Information Office, that the country will continue to implement a pro-active fiscal policy this year by shedding at least as much government funds on infrastructure construction as last year. Thanks to massive government investment, the investment by collective enterprises and individuals went up 9.2 percent and 9.5 percent respectively last year, compared to the national average of 9 percent. At the same time, a larger part of the investment had been made due to technological upgrading. In 2000, the increased rate of investment in technological renovation exceeded that of investment in fixed assets by 7.1 percentage points. Zhu said the active fiscal policy and improved corporate efficiency will combine to propel the demand for investment this year. He said that as the global economy is expected to maintain an upward trend, China will further increase exports and draw in more direct investment from overseas. NBS figures show that China's exports jumped 27.8 percent year- on-year in 2000. The contract value of foreign direct investment surged 51.3 percent over the previous year, indicating that more foreign investment will flow into China in the coming year. Zhu noted that the consumer prices index rose 0.4 percent in 2000 compared with the previous year, ending a downward trend over the past three consecutive years. He said that the country will continue to stimulate consumption by increasing the income of urban and rural residents this year. He said that the government's measures to tackle the threat of deflation have been effective and will adopt a flexible macro- economic policy to maintain a rapid, sustainable growth. |
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