 |
Scholars Pin High Hopes on China's Development in New Century
The 21st century will stun the whole world with the splendid scenario: China, the biggest and most populous developing country, is catching up with the world's most-developed nations.
This is how noted Chinese economist Hu Angang describes the rapid development of the Chinese economy.
The year 2001 is the starting point for China to materialize its modernization blueprints in the new century, he said.
Hu's view is shared by many others.
In the next five years and even longer, China's economic growth rate may go well above 7 percent, said Lin Yifu, an economist who is attending the on-going Fourth Session of the Ninth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in the national capital.
Great changes that took place in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000) and the programming for the Tenth Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005) make people more convinced that it is no longer a dream for China to become prosperous and strong again, Lin said.
Despite of the adverse impact of the Asian financial crisis, the Chinese economy still maintained an annual growth rate of more than 8 percent over the past five years. For the first time, China's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded one trillion by the end of 2000, ranking seventh in the world.
According to the proposals on framing the Tenth Five-Year Plan, adopted by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, China
will focus its attention on development, structural adjustment, reform and opening up, scientific advancement, and the improvement of people's living standards in the 2001-2005 period.
The Tenth Five-Year Plan period will lay the foundation for realizing the goal of doubling the 2000 GDP by 2010.
Wang Mengkui, director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that China will maintain a faster growth speed well matched by efficiency.
Experts pointed out, China faces both opportunities and challenges in the coming five years. It is imperative for China to make "substantial progress" in perfecting its socialist market economic system; it will also benefit from valuable foreign experience to further its export-oriented economy after its accession to the WTO.
In This Section
|