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China's Growth Momentum Keeps On
Latest official figures indicate that China's economy continued its growth momentum in the first half of this year amidst the world's gloomy economic environment.
In the past six months, the national economy grew by about eight percent. The volume of export was 124.57 billion US dollars, up 8.8 percent from the same period last year, while industrial output increased 11 percent.
Such figures are identical to those in 1997, when the break-out of the Asian financial crisis smashed the economies of the countries that had led Asian economic development for years, while the Chinese economy survived basically unscathed.
In 1997 and during the years that followed, China's economic growth managed to stay at around eight percent and the value of the Renminbi yuan remained stable, contributing greatly to helping other Asian countries recovering from difficult conditions.
Economists generally hold that a major factor behind China's economic strength is the expansion of domestic demand, and external changes have just minor impact on China's economy.
Chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd. D.G. Eldon said that global economic slump can hardly affect China as the country's domestic consumption demand and overseas direct investment keep on rising.
The reform and opening up efforts have made China a magnetite for international investors, he added.
Wu Jinglian, one of China's most famous economists, said that the Chinese government's pro-active financial policies and incentive policies for suppliers have made outstanding achievements, and if those policies are able to continue, the economy will maintain its powerful growth for the whole year.
In Wu's view, another important factor backing the stable economic growth is that a mechanism for fair competition among all kinds of ownership has been established, which has helped rejuvenate enterprises, especially those privately owned.
For years China has firmly practiced a range of economic policies and critical reforms in the fields of finance, State- owned enterprises, banking, grain circulation and social security system. Economic restructuring is another focal point, which has been listed as this year's top task.
Those policies and reforms have helped China tackle many thorny problems in economic development. One of the most typical achievements is the favorable change in commercial banks' non- performing loans: the central bank announced recently that the ratio of non-performing loans has begun to enjoy net decrease since late last year, and in the first six months of this year it fell by 2.1 percentage points.
Deputy Director of the National Bureau of Statistics Qiu Xiaohua said that China's price changes are in good condition and there is currently no danger of inflation. China maintains a surplus in the balance sheet of international payments and the credit structure is also improving. As a result, stable growth will be the main theme for Chinese economy in the whole year.
Successful economic reform over the past more than 20 years has paved the way for China's stable and healthy economic development in the future, Beijing's success in winning the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games and China's imminent entry into the World Trade Organization are expected to be new forces driving forward China's economy.
Fifteen senior fund managers from the United States, Europe and Asia made the following comment on China's economic prospects upon ending their recent visit to China: in a clumsy Asian and global economic environment, China is an exceptional oasis -- this country is telling the most important economic and investment stories in the 21st century.
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