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China's Sound Platform for Economic Take-off at New Century
Despite the Asian financial turmoil and severe natural calamities, China realized a dramatic economic growth in the last five years of the 20th century.
Authoritative figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show that China's gross domestic product (GDP) annually grew 8.3 percent on the average in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000), while the world average was only 3.8 percent.
In 2000, China's GDP even exceeded one trillion US dollars, or the per capita GDP went beyond 800 US dollars, which means China has jumped from a low-income country to a moderate-income- and-below one.
Economic observers here noted that the healthy economic growth and the continuous escalating of China's aggregated national strength have helped establish a sound platform for China's economic take-off in the new century.
Agriculture industry performed well in this historical period, experiencing a significant change from long-term food shortage to consecutive harvests. The food output exceeded 500 billion kilograms in 1996 and stood around the level in the following four years.
Local observer notes that the most important achievement China's industry gained over the past five years is to reach the targets set for the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and lifting those enterprises out of difficulty.
Statistics show that the industrial value-added in 2000 hit over 3.9 trillion yuan, increasing by 62.6 percent compared to that in 1995. The turnout of steel, coal, cement, fertilizer and TV sets all rank first in the world.
Actuated by Chinese government's pro-active fiscal policy, China's fixed assets investment exceeded 13 trillion yuan in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, most of which has been put on fundamental industries and infrastructure construction.
For instance, the newly-built railways and expressways during the period reached 6,140 km and more than 11,000 km,respectively.
Foreign trade also saw rapid development, after the elimination of the unfavorable impact of the Asian financial crisis. In the five-year period, China's exports and imports topped US$1.7 trillion, with a surplus of US$149.5 billion. The country's foreign exchange reserve also increased, from US$73.6 billion in 1995 to US$165.6 billion in 2000, ranking second in the world.
The living standards of the Chinese people have improved conspicuously as a result of the prosperous economy. By the end of 2000, the average per capita income for China's urban families stood at 6,280 yuan in 2000, with an annual growth of 5.7 percent in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, and that for rural families was 2,253 yuan, increasing by 4.7 percent yearly.
The proportion of people's expenditure on food in their whole consumption has been decreasing. That of China's urban inhabitants dropped from 49 percent in 1995 to 39.2 percent in 2000.
In the meantime, more and more Chinese people are able to possess goods made to last and live in spacious dwellings. Moreover, their health has also been improved, due to better living conditions.
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