Non-State-Owned Economy Important to West China DevelopmentThe backward economy in western China was partly attributed to a weak non-state-owned sector Thursday at the 2001 West China Forum held in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.Economists from Britain's Cambridge University, the Research Institute for Reconstructing the Economic System of China (RESR) and the Hainan Reform and Development Academy (HRDA), exchanged ideas on the development potential of the non-state-owned economy in western China. Chi Fulin, president of HRDA, said that under the framework of the market economic system, China should encourage non-state-owned firms to compete for infrastructure construction, environmental protection, resource exploration, and technology and educational projects. Chi said that this measure could encourage more private capital to the market. Gao Shangquan, director of RESR, said that the western region should boost the non-state-owned sector's share in the overall economy so as to absorb the surplus of laborers. However, environmental protection must be taken into consideration in developing privately-owned businesses, he said. |
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