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Following is the full text of a report on China's national economic
and social development plan delivered at the First Session of the
10th National People's Congress on March 6, 2003:
REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2002 PLAN FOR
NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ON THE 2003 DRAFT PLAN
FOR NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Zeng Peiyan
Minister in Charge of the State Development Planning
Commission
Fellow Deputies,
As
entrusted by the State Council, I now report to this session on the
implementation of the 2002 Plan for National Economic and Social
Development and on the 2003 Draft Plan for National Economic and
Social Development. I present these to you for your examination and
approval and also for comments and suggestions from members of the
National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference.
I. Implementation of the 2002 Plan for National Economic and
Social Development
Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the people of
all our ethnic groups held high the great banner of Deng Xiaoping
Theory and implemented the important thought of Three Represents
over the past years. Acting on the decisions adopted at the Fifth
Session of the Ninth National People's Congress, we vigorously
furthered the reform, opening up and modernization drive, resulting
in the sustained, rapid and sound development of the national
economy and in all-round social progress. The 2002 plan was
implemented satisfactorily, with the main targets for macroeconomic
regulation attained successfully.
The policy of stimulating domestic demand continued to have
positive effects, and the national economy maintained sustained and
rapid growth. This country generated 10.2398 trillion yuan in GDP
in 2002, 8% more than in the previous year. We steadfastly
implemented a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary
policy, made good use of treasury bonds to stimulate investment,
and worked hard to induce nongovernmental investment. Investment in
fixed assets for the whole country came to 4.3202 trillion yuan, a
year-on-year increase of 16.1%. Long-term treasury bonds totaling
150 billion yuan were issued in 2002 with approval of the Fifth
Session of the Ninth National People's Congress, which led to an
additional increase of 2 percentage points in China's economic
growth rate. A large number of high-quality assets have been
created by projects financed through treasury bonds. This has
increased China's capability for long-term development and played a
positive role in optimizing the economic structure, improving the
investment environment, increasing revenue, promoting technological
progress in enterprises, increasing our ability to maintain
sustainable development, and raising people's living standards.
Localities and departments painstakingly organized the
implementation of projects financed through treasury bonds. They
ensured the quality of the work and the safety of the funds by
tightening auditing, supervision and inspection and by increasing
public scrutiny. We continued to expand consumption as an important
part of our proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy.
Comprehensive measures were taken to increase personal incomes and
improve consumer policies and the consumer environment, making
greater spending possible among urban and rural residents. Retail
sales of consumer goods for the whole country totaled 4.0911
trillion yuan, 8.8% over the figure for 2001. New growth areas
emerged as the focus of consumer spending, including housing,
communications, tourism, education and automobiles.
Fresh progress was made in industrial restructuring, resulting in
improved quality and efficiency of economic growth. Good results
were achieved in restructuring agriculture and the rural economy.
Adjustment of the geographical distribution of agricultural
production was accelerated, with continued shifting of production
of grain, cotton and other major agricultural products to the most
suitable areas. The livestock and aquatic farming sectors grew
steadily. We developed a number of high-yield, high-quality crop
varieties and breeds that are resistant to diseases and suited to
adverse natural conditions and continually increased the overall
capacity of agricultural production. This country produced 457.1
billion kilograms of grain in 2002, 1% more than in 2001. We
vigorously promoted the industrial management of agriculture in
order to increase rural incomes. Infrastructure development made
great headway, with a large number of new projects for water
conservancy, transport, communications, energy development and
environmental protection completed and put into operation during
the year. Our industrial structure continued to improve.
Competitive high-tech industries that possess proprietary
intellectual property rights are emerging. The industrial output
value of our high-tech industries grew by 23% year-on-year. We put
into operation a range of major domestically produced equipment,
including urban rail transit facilities, environmental protection
equipment, and large-capacity aluminum oxide production equipment.
We intensified our efforts to reorganize traditional industries and
upgrade their technology. There have been stable developments in
traditional service industries, rapid growth in modern ones, and
vigorous development in telecommunications, logistics, consultancy,
tourism and community services. The economic performance of
enterprises improved significantly. State-owned and large non-state
industrial enterprises generated 562 billion yuan in profit in
2002, 20.6% more than in the previous year.
Steady progress was made in developing China's west, and
development of the central and western regions was expedited.
Infrastructure development continued to accelerate. Construction
started on a range of key projects such as piping natural gas from
the west to the east and harnessing the Tarim River in a
comprehensive way. Construction on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and
the project to divert electricity from the west to the east
proceeded satisfactorily. Work was accelerated to ensure that every
township has access to electricity, that every county seat is
served by asphalt roads, and that every village receives radio and
TV programs. Projects for ecological conservation such as those for
returning farmland to forest, protection of natural forest
resources, prevention and control of desertification, and
restoration and development of natural grassland kept on schedule.
In 2002, we returned 2.52 million hectares of farmland to forest
and afforested an additional 2.88 million hectares of barren hills
and uncultivated land. We sped up the development of small and
medium-sized water conservancy projects, potable water sources for
people and livestock, and roads in rural areas, improving the
conditions for production and living there.
Economic restructuring was steadily deepened, adding fresh vigor
and vitality to China's development. We continued and further
standardized the reform of large and medium-sized state-owned
enterprises to convert them into standard companies. The
promulgation of the Law on Promoting Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprises helped improve the environment for developing such
enterprises. Development of individually and privately run
businesses and other non-public sectors of the economy was
accelerated. Substantive progress was made in restructuring the
management system of such industries as telecommunications, civil
aviation and electric power. Price reform continued to deepen with
the introduction and strengthening of a system of public hearings
for price-related government decisions. We began to collect fees
for treatment of urban sewage and garbage, and instituted a system
of advance notification of prices and administrative fees related
to farmers. Significant achievements were made in upgrading
electricity grids and restructuring the electricity supply system
in rural areas to adjust the electricity rates there to conform to
those in urban areas. Urban and rural residents in 70% of the
counties are now paying the same rate for household electricity,
reducing the financial burden on rural residents by 42 billion yuan
a year. The fee-to-tax reform in rural areas was instituted in 20
provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the
central government) on a trial basis. The reform to make the
purchasing and marketing of grain and cotton more market-oriented
was accelerated. Conclusive results were achieved in reforming the
system of administrative examination and approval. We intensified
our efforts to straighten out and standardize the order of the
market economy, and we carried out a campaign to come down hard on
the production and marketing of counterfeit and shoddy food
products, medicines and medical apparatus and instruments as well
as other illegal acts. Efforts were stepped up to target
wrongdoings in cultural activities, tourism, the building industry
and rural market fairs. All this improved the market environment.
Our World Trade Organization (WTO) membership began well, and we
further developed our open economy. To fulfill our commitments to
the WTO earnestly, we formulated, revised or revoked relevant laws
and regulations, lowered the general tariff level, subjected
non-tariff measures to phased elimination, and opened more areas to
foreign investment. In addition, we began to establish
anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard mechanisms. The volume
of our imports and exports for 2002 reached US$620.8 billion, an
increase of 21.8% over the previous year. Our trade mix continued
to improve, with a significant increase in the export of mechanical
and electrical and high-tech products and an increase in the import
of key equipment, advanced technologies and resource goods that are
badly needed in China. Foreign direct investment in China over the
year amounted to US$52.7 billion, 12.5% greater than in 2001. The
foreign investment structure became more rational and the
investment was used to finance more large capital-and
technology-intensive projects. Fresh progress was made in
implementing the "going global" strategy. Regional as well as
multilateral and bilateral economic cooperation continued to
deepen. Revenue continued to grow, and banking and financial
operations remained stable. Revenue for the entire country amounted
to 1.8914 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.4%.
Expenditures reached 2.2012 trillion yuan, up 16.4%, exceeding
revenue by 309.8 billion yuan. The financial sector intensified its
support for economic growth and restructuring while watching out
for and defusing financial risks. The broad money supply (M2) and
the narrow money supply (M1) both increased by 16.8%, and 158.9
billion yuan was put into circulation during the year. At the end
of 2002, the outstanding loans for all financial institutions were
15.4% greater than at the end of 2001; the ratio of their
non-performing loans dropped by 4.5 percentage points; and China's
foreign exchange reserves reached US$286.4 billion.
The pace of advances and innovation in science and technology was
quickened, and the guiding role of education in China's development
was enhanced. Important progress was made in basic and high-tech
research, and our capability for independent innovation continually
increased. The Shenzhou III and IV spacecrafts were launched
successfully and returned safely, and major scientific and
technological projects on super-large integrated circuits and
software, and functional genomes progressed smoothly. Significant
progress was made in establishing a national scientific and
technological innovation system and in reforming research
institutes. We redoubled our efforts to develop scientific and
technological infrastructure such as key national laboratories and
scientific projects. Translation of research results into
productive forces was accelerated. Protection and management of
intellectual property rights improved. Constant improvement was
made in elementary education. A new system whereby county
governments are held responsible for administering rural compulsory
education began to take shape. Fresh progress was registered in
making compulsory education universal in poverty-stricken areas.
Significant results were achieved in developing infrastructure
necessary for greater student enrollment in institutions of higher
learning and regular senior secondary schools, and in renovating
dilapidated primary and secondary school buildings. Development of
regular senior secondary schools and secondary vocational and
technical education was accelerated. Higher education continued to
grow, with 3.21 million new undergraduate students and 203,000 new
graduate students enrolled in regular institutions of higher
learning.
All social undertakings developed in a comprehensive way, and the
people's lives continued to improve. Sound progress was made in
culture, health, sports, radio, film, TV, the press and publishing.
Efforts were constantly intensified to promote spiritual
civilization. Progress was smooth in the development of a number of
key cultural facilities, rural health facilities, traditional
Chinese medicine hospitals and specialized hospitals. National
fitness activities flourished, and Chinese athletes did well in
major sports competitions both at home and abroad. Notable results
were achieved in developing urban infrastructure having a direct
bearing on people's lives. The poverty-stricken rural population
decreased again. The per capita disposable income of urban
residents increased by 13.4% in real terms, and the per capita net
income of rural residents rose by 4.8%. We continued to strengthen
the program to guarantee that the living allowances for workers
laid off from state-owned enterprises and the basic pensions for
retirees are paid on time and in full. The program to grant
subsistence allowances to the urban poor was notably strengthened.
Experiments to improve the urban social security system made great
headway. The registered urban unemployment rate was 4% at the end
of 2002. Progress was made in environmental protection and in the
rational development and use of resources, increasing our ability
for sustainable development. Greater efforts were made to improve
the environment in key areas by closing a number of seriously
polluting enterprises or suspending their operations. Conclusive
results were achieved in the prevention and control of water
pollution in the valleys of the Huaihe, Haihe and Liaohe rivers and
Taihu, Chaohu and Dianchi lakes. Some cities and industrial and
mining areas reduced their discharge of sulfur dioxide to bring the
worsening acid rain under control. More environmental protection
facilities such as sewage and garbage treatment plants were built
in urban areas, and 40.3% of urban sewage was brought under
centralized treatment. The pace of improving the ecological
environment and protecting resources was accelerated. Construction
on the south-to-north water diversion project started. The natural
population growth rate was 6.45.
Fellow Deputies,
The achievements of the past year were made on the basis of what we
had achieved since the policy of reform and opening up was
introduced in the late 1970s, especially since 1998. During the
past five years, the Chinese economy has experienced sustained and
rapid growth. All social undertakings have developed rapidly. Our
overall national strength has reached a new height. The socialist
market economy has been basically established. A pattern of
multidirectional opening to the outside world has taken shape.
China's international influence has grown notably, and our national
cohesion has greatly increased. Our country has enjoyed social
stability, solidarity, good government and a united people. These
five years constituted one of the best periods of development in
China's history, during which a solid foundation has been laid for
our long-term development in the years to come. In the
extraordinary course of development over the past five years, our
national economy enjoyed sustained, rapid and sound development
despite a host of unfavorable factors in the international economic
environment and numerous difficulties in the domestic economy. We
clearly realize that all this is attributable to the scientific
decisions and correct leadership of the central authorities and to
the timely guidance and intensified oversight of the National
People's Congress and its Standing Committee. Credit also goes to
localities and departments for their concerted efforts and earnest
work, and to the people of all our ethnic groups who have worked
hard with one heart and one mind. We are also aware that there are
still many conflicts and problems in our economic and social
activities and that some of these are very serious. First, the
problem of weak effective demand is coupled with an irrational
supply structure. Because the main factors affecting rural incomes
have yet to be eliminated, rural income growth has been slow. Some
urban residents have very low incomes and are confronted with many
difficulties in their lives. All this hinders the expansion of the
consumer market. The investment potential of the collective and
private sectors and of individually run businesses has yet to be
fully tapped. Second, employment and reemployment prospects remain
grim. A large number of urban residents need to find a job or get
reemployed, and there is a huge surplus of rural labor that needs
to be diverted to work in urban areas. This makes it very difficult
to create enough new job opportunities to keep up with the demand
for employment. Third, the reform of state-owned enterprises is a
monumental task, with deep-seated problems still not totally
solved. We still have a lot to do to make development through fair
competition possible for businesses under different forms of
ownership. Fourth, the order of the market economy remains fairly
chaotic. We still have a long way to go to establish a social
credibility system. Major industrial accidents occur frequently.
The State Council is paying close attention to these problems and
working hard to adopt measures to solve them.
II. Regulatory Targets and Main Tasks for Economic and Social
Development in 2003
The year 2003 is important for carrying out the guiding principles
set forth at the Sixteenth National Congress of the Party and for
making fresh progress in building a well-off society in an
all-round way. A comprehensive analysis of the domestic and
international economic environments shows that we enjoy favorable
conditions for accelerating development but also face new
challenges. Conditions might change and new problems could arise in
the Chinese economy, and there are many uncertainties in the world
economy as well. Only by enhancing our awareness of potential
danger, preparing for adversity, adequately assessing our
difficulties and problems, and fully considering policy measures
can we avert peril and keep the upper hand. We must follow the
guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three
Represents. In compliance with the overall requirements set by the
central authorities for our economic work, we will continue to
expand domestic demand, implement a proactive fiscal policy and a
prudent monetary policy, and maintain continuity and stability in
our macroeconomic policies to promote sustained, rapid and sound
development of the national economy and all-round social
progress.
Our main macroeconomic regulatory targets for 2003 are as
follows:
--
Economic growth rate around 7%;
--
Over 8 million new jobs for urban residents, and registered urban
unemployment rate confined to 4.5%;
--
Rise in the consumer price index of no more than 1%; and
--
Increase in the total import and export volume of 7%.
To
attain the macroeconomic regulatory targets for this year, we need
to focus on accomplishing the following tasks:
1.
Accelerating the restructuring of agriculture and the rural economy
and doing everything possible to increase rural incomes. We must
work energetically to improve the quality of farm products, ensure
that crops are grown in areas with the best conditions, and develop
industrial belts for production of competitive farm products. More
support will be provided for major grain producing areas. We need
to develop and perfect a system of quality standards, an inspection
and testing system and a certification system for farm products in
order to improve their quality and safety. We will strengthen
dissemination of agricultural science and technology and promote
transformation of research achievements into productive forces. The
policies and measures to support conduit enterprises will be
further improved and implemented. We will develop intensive
processing of agricultural products and improve the industrial
management of agriculture. The rural land policy will be
implemented in accordance with the law. Efforts will be intensified
to improve agricultural and rural infrastructure, focusing on the
so-called "one big" and "six small" projects. By the "one big"
project we mean continued effort to develop key projects in
agriculture, forestry and water conservancy. The "six small"
projects are the small and medium-sized infrastructure projects for
water-efficient irrigation, potable water for people and livestock,
country roads, rural marsh gas, rural hydroelectricity and pasture
fencing. More resources will be devoted to anti-poverty programs.
More work will be made available as a form of relief. Priority will
be given to solving outstanding problems such as roads, potable
water and electricity in poverty-stricken areas. We will accelerate
restructuring, institutional innovation and technological progress
in township and village enterprises and ensure the orderly
development of urbanization. We will continue to guide the rational
and orderly movement of rural labor and eliminate discriminative
policies and unfair charges affecting rural laborers working in
urban areas to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. The
fee-to-tax reform will be carried out on a trial basis in all rural
areas, and support policies will be improved. Reform of the grain
and cotton distribution systems will be deepened to protect the
interests of farmers. We will rectify prices and fees affecting
farmers, institute an advance notification system, and develop
special programs to solve particularly thorny problems so as to
reduce the burden on farmers. The per capita net income for rural
residents is expected to increase by 4% in 2003.
2.
Giving fuller play to the role of treasury bonds in stimulating
investment to promote economic restructuring and stable and rapid
economic growth. In 2003, we plan to issue 140 billion yuan worth
of long-term treasury bonds, and the country's fixed asset
investment is expected to grow by 12%. We must put the funds raised
from treasury bond issues to the best possible use in an optimized
investment structure in accordance with the relevant resolutions of
this session. These funds should first of all be used to continue
and complete bond-financed projects currently under construction
and to fund new projects that are necessary. Priority will be
mainly given to four tasks in the allocation of these funds:
improving conditions for production and living in rural areas;
restructuring to promote technological progress and industrial
upgrading and to support and guide the development of the service
sector; supporting development of the central and western regions
to ensure smooth progress in their key projects; and developing
science and technology, education and the ecological environment to
ensure implementation of the strategy of rejuvenating the country
through science, technology and education and the strategy of
sustainable development. Proper preparation must be made for
launching projects, and management, inspection and supervision must
be strengthened to prevent low-quality, redundant development. We
will actively seek new forms of financing for infrastructure
development. These could include transferring to non-state sectors
of the right to operate projects and the equity in these projects
and reinvesting the recovered funds. We will allow an appropriate
increase in the amount of bonds issued by enterprises, provided
that enhanced risk control and prevention are in place. We will
increase interest subsidies for treasury bonds to attract and
stimulate more nongovernmental investment. Nongovernmental capital
will be given access to more areas. Intermediate services will be
developed for nongovernmental investment. Fair competition will be
promoted in investment, financing, taxation and land use.
Supervision and management will be strengthened in accordance with
the law in order to guide non-public sectors of the economy to seek
sound development.
3.
Working hard to increase job opportunities and constantly improving
the social security system. Efforts to bring the unemployment rate
under control and increase job opportunities should be incorporated
into the plans of governments at all levels for economic and social
development. We will spare no effort to reach the projected targets
for creating new job opportunities in cities and towns. Development
of the service sector will be the main source of new employment and
reemployment. In particular, we must make full use of the important
roles of individually and privately run businesses and of small and
medium-sized enterprises in increasing employment. Great efforts
should be made to create jobs in urban communities. The labor
market needs to be standardized and further developed. Unemployed
people are encouraged and supported to seek jobs on their own and
to start their own businesses. We will conscientiously implement
policies and measures for reducing or exempting taxes and fees,
granting guaranteed microcredit with interest subsidies and
subsidizing social insurance so as to promote reemployment. Large
and medium-sized state-owned enterprises are encouraged to make
appropriate arrangements for their redundant personnel by
separating their core business from their secondary businesses and
changing the way the secondary businesses operate. We must ensure
that the number of workers laid off or channeled to other work and
the pace of this process are appropriate, taking into full
consideration the resilience of our financial resources,
enterprises, workers and social security system. Vocational
training will be strengthened to improve the skills workers need
for employment. We will continue to provide employment assistance
to people having difficulty finding jobs. We will provide proper
guidance and services to new graduates from institutions of high
learning and vocational schools to help them find jobs or start
their own businesses. The social security system will be improved.
We will further consolidate the system of guaranteeing that the
basic living allowances for workers laid off from state-owned
enterprises and the basic pensions for retirees are paid on time
and in full. We will improve the system of guaranteeing a minimum
subsistence level for needy urban residents. And we will properly
coordinate the implementation of the three programs for ensuring
basic living allowances for workers laid off from state-owned
enterprises, for improving unemployment insurance and for
guaranteeing a minimum subsistence level for needy urban residents.
We will continue to ensure success of the trial program to improve
the urban social security system.
4.
Accelerating adjustment and improvement of the industrial structure
in accordance with the requirements for taking a new road to
industrialization. We will give priority to development of the
information industry by applying IT in all areas of economic and
social development and promoting e-government vigorously. We will
accelerate development of new and high technology industries and
continue implementing the major high-tech projects for developing
deep submicron integrated circuits, digital TV, satellite systems
for direct transmission of radio and TV programs, biology, new
medicines and modern agriculture. These projects will exert a
far-reaching influence on national economic development. We will
further develop national engineering research centers and national
high-tech industry bases to increase our ability to apply advances
in new and high technology in industrial production. We will
revitalize the equipment manufacturing industry and accelerate the
pace of producing essential equipment domestically through the
development of major projects, so as to increase our capability for
independent development and raise our overall level of technology.
Technological upgrading in key industries and enterprises will be
accelerated. We will make a success a number of key projects in the
fields of energy and raw materials. Planning and guidance for the
automobile, iron and steel, and building materials industries will
be strengthened in order to avoid unplanned development and
disorderly competition. We will actively explore new ideas and
methods to transform and revitalize the northeastern region and
other old industrial bases, and support cities and areas mainly
engaged in natural resource exploitation to solve their outstanding
problems and develop alternative industries. Obsolete equipment,
technologies and production processes will be abandoned.
Enterprises wasting resources, causing serious environmental
pollution or operating under unsafe conditions will be closed down.
Vigorous efforts will be made to develop modern service industries
and modern distribution methods such as chain operations and
centrally managed distribution. We will make full use of the role
of the service sector in guiding investment and promote its
comprehensive development.
5.
Actively developing the western region to promote coordinated
economic development between regions. We will continue to redouble
our efforts to develop infrastructure and improve the ecological
environment, focusing first on two priorities. On the one hand, we
will speed up implementation of key projects that have a bearing on
the nation as a whole. We will make funds available for key
projects to ensure their successful implementation. These include
the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the projects to divert natural gas and
electricity from the west to the east, key water conservancy
projects, trunk highways, the Tibet-Xinjiang Project as well as
projects for ecological conservation and environmental protection.
Construction will start on an additional number of major projects
for water conservancy and environmental protection and for building
highways, railways and airports at appropriate times. On the other
hand, we will launch projects to improve the conditions for living
and production in rural areas, focusing on three projects. The
first project is to gradually ensure that every county seat in the
western region is served by asphalt roads. The second is to return
more farmland to forest and return more grazing land to grassland.
In 2003, another 3.37 million hectares of farmland will revert to
forest and an additional 6.67 million hectares of grazing land to
grassland, and another 3.77 million hectares of barren hills and
uncultivated land will be afforested. The third is to improve the
supply of potable water and energy to rural households and properly
resettle the households displaced for ecological reasons. In
addition, we will speed up reform and opening up, develop science,
technology and education, support and nurture competitive
industries in the western region and gradually establish long-term
stable channels for funding development there. More resources and
support will be devoted to old revolutionary base areas and ethnic
minority areas to accelerate their development. We will further
strengthen economic cooperation among the eastern, central and
western regions, so that they can complement each other and work
for common development.
6.
Continuing to implement the market-oriented reform and rectify and
standardize the order of the market economy. We will continue to
carry out the reform to transform large and medium-sized
state-owned enterprises into standard or joint-stock companies. We
support qualified large enterprises in their effort to go public on
overseas stock markets. We also support the development of small
and medium-sized enterprises under all types of ownership,
especially science and technology-oriented and labor-intensive
ones. We will intensify our effort to adjust and reorganize
enterprises in defense-related and other industries in difficulty
and turn around their operation. Achievements in the reform of the
telecommunications, civil aviation and electricity industries will
be consolidated, and reform of other monopoly industries
energetically carried forward. We will formulate laws for the
management of state assets and reform their management system in an
orderly way from top to bottom so as to prevent their loss. We will
improve the mechanism whereby prices are determined mainly by
market forces under government macroeconomic regulation. We will
improve such systems as holding public hearings on government
price-related decisions, expert reviews, group reviews and
supervision and examination of prices for important goods and
services. We will intensify oversight and management of prices and
charges. We will speed up the reform of the investment and
financing systems, give enterprises the right to make independent
investment decisions and improve macro-regulation of the country's
fixed-asset investment. Vigorous efforts will be made to rectify
and standardize the order of the market economy. We will deal
severely with illegal and criminal activities such as manufacturing
and marketing fake or shoddy goods, smuggling, distribution of
smuggled goods, and pyramid schemes. Special campaigns against
wrongdoings in the market will continue, and we will come down hard
on major economic crimes and irregularities that seriously endanger
the order of the market economy. We will promptly establish systems
for enterprise and individual credit information, so as to develop
an honest, credible and lawful market environment as soon as
possible. We will strengthen supervision and management of
production safety to prevent serious accidents.
7.
Opening the country wider to the outside world and making better
use of both domestic and international markets and resources. We
will continue to do good work in all areas related to China's WTO
membership during our grace period. Great efforts will be made to
encourage more enterprises to engage in foreign trade and to
diversify our export markets. Policies and measures favoring
exports will be retained, and methods including tax exemptions,
discounts or rebates for goods exported by producers on their own
will be improved. We will improve the mechanism to respond rapidly
to anti-dumping charges against Chinese enterprises. Proper
arrangements will be made to import key equipment, technologies and
important raw and semi-processed materials badly needed in the
country. The investment environment will be further improved, and
service industries will open to the outside world in an orderly
manner. In attracting foreign investment, we will focus on
acquiring advanced technologies and modern managerial expertise and
on recruiting specialists. We will strengthen the unified
management of our foreign debt. We will step up the implementation
of the "going global" strategy, encouraging and supporting suitable
enterprises to invest abroad and operate transnationally in various
forms. Regional economic cooperation will be strengthened, and
international economic and technological exchanges will be
increased.
8.
Developing and expanding consumer demand and constantly raising
people's living standards. We will work conscientiously to improve
the consumer environment and to develop and expand consumption. In
particular, we will pay close attention to developing rural
markets. Unreasonable regulations that stifle consumption will be
eliminated. Existing focuses of consumer spending will be
strengthened. New consumption growth areas will be developed in
community services, entertainment, sports and exercise, sanitation
and health care. A system will be established and perfected to
ensure the supply of low-rent housing to improve the living
conditions of low- or middle-income urban residents. Consumer
credit will be standardized and developed. Further efforts will be
made to develop the tourism infrastructure and to improve the
quality of tourism services. We will deepen the reform of the
wealth distribution system to increase personal incomes,
particularly for the low-income population. A system for assisting
low-income people through a variety of means will be established
and perfected to help exceedingly indigent urban families solve
their problems in housing, children's schooling, medical treatment
and heating. In 2003, the per capita disposable income of urban
residents is expected to increase by 6%, and retail sales of
consumer goods for the whole country, by 9%.
9.
Working hard to increase revenue and reduce expenditures and fully
exploiting the role of finance in supporting economic growth. We
will further improve tax collection and administration to ensure a
steady increase in revenue. We will continue to adjust the pattern
of budgetary expenditures to ensure first of all that wages and
salaries are paid on time and in full. Expenditures will be
increased for social security programs. There will be more funds
for agriculture and rural compulsory education and health. Transfer
payments will be increased for the central and western regions and
for areas in straitened circumstances. We will resolutely combat
waste and extravagance. Except for key projects requiring
additional funding that must be provided in accordance with the
relevant laws, regulations and policies, zero growth must be
registered in other areas of expenditure. China's budgetary
projections for 2003 are revenue of 2.0501 trillion yuan,
expenditures of 2.3699 trillion yuan, and deficit in the central
budget limited to 319.8 billion yuan. We will deepen reform of the
financial system to improve the quality of financial services.
State-owned commercial banks will continue providing support loans
for projects funded through treasury bonds, lend more money to
profitable and trustworthy enterprises with a ready market for
their products, and provide more credit to agriculture, small and
medium-sized enterprises and county economies. We will further
deepen reform of rural credit cooperatives and continue to grant
microcredit to individual rural households and guaranteed loans to
groups of rural households. We will strengthen financial regulation
to reduce the proportion of non-performing bank assets and watch
out for and defuse financial risks. We will ensure an appropriate
increase in money supply, with the broad money supply (M2) and the
narrow money supply (M1) both rising by about 16%, and the money in
circulation not exceeding 150 billion yuan in 2003. We will
standardize and develop the securities and insurance markets.
10. Continuing to implement the strategy of rejuvenating China
through science, technology and education and the strategy of
sustainable development, and promoting comprehensive progress in
all social undertakings. We will devote more resources to science,
technology and education. We will strengthen basic research and
high-tech research and continue to implement the March 1986
High-Tech Program, the March 1997 Program on Basic Research and
other major scientific and technological programs as well as
specific national scientific development projects. We will promote
the establishment of a national innovation system and acquire core
technologies and proprietary intellectual property rights in key
areas and certain frontier areas of scientific and technological
development. We will strengthen infrastructure development for
science and technology and deepen the reform of their management
system. We will establish an incentive-based system for scientific
and technological innovation, attract highly qualified
professionals from abroad and encourage overseas Chinese students
to return and pursue careers in China. We will increase research in
philosophy and other social sciences. More efforts will be made to
disseminate science and technology among the public. We will
vigorously develop education and promote competence-oriented
education. We will pay close attention to and strengthen elementary
education, and we will work hard to make nine-year compulsory
education universally available and to eliminate illiteracy among
young and middle-aged people in poverty-stricken and ethnic
minority areas. Distance education projects will be implemented in
rural primary and secondary schools. Work will continue to renovate
dilapidated primary and secondary school buildings and develop the
infrastructure necessary for the increased enrollment of students
in key senior secondary schools. We will pay particular attention
to improving the quality of higher education. We will continue
implementing the second phase of the 211 Project for Higher
Education and accelerate the process of outsourcing college support
services to independent service providers. Plans call for the
enrollment of 3.35 million undergraduate students and 270,000
graduate students in regular institutions of higher learning in
2003. We will fully implement the Law on Promoting Privately Run
Schools. We will progressively strengthen vocational, technical and
adult education and improve the system of lifelong education. The
basic state policies of family planning, environmental protection
and resource conservation will be adhered to. We will keep the
birthrate low, confining the natural population growth rate to 7.5.
We will increase funding for controlling environmental pollution
and conserving natural resources, rationally develop and
effectively utilize resources, and comprehensively improve land and
resources. We will quickly increase reserves of petroleum and other
strategic resources. We will strictly control the volume of
pollutants discharged by means of comprehensive management and the
use of pollution discharge permits. We will strengthen measures to
prevent and control water pollution in major river valleys, in the
area of the Three Gorges Reservoir and along the routes of the
south-north water diversion project. We will intensify our efforts
to prevent and control pollution in areas that are sources of
sulfur dioxide and acid rain. We will increase the proportion of
urban sewage and garbage that are treated and improve the level of
treatment.
Socialist spiritual civilization will be promoted. We will foster
and develop a national spirit centering on patriotism and promote
the development of culture, health, sports, radio, film, TV, the
press and publishing. We will put more resources into the
development of public cultural facilities and expand the area of
radio and TV reception. Cultural relics will be better protected.
We will energetically promote urban pilot reforms of the basic
medical insurance system for urban employees, the medical and
public health systems, and the system for producing and
distributing medicines. A new cooperative medical system will be
gradually set up and improved in rural areas. We will continue to
improve the system for prevention and control of diseases. Good
preparation will be made for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and
for the 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai.
III. Working Hard Together with a Pioneering Spirit to Make Fresh
Progress in Developing a Well-off Society in an All-Round Way
The target of building a well-off society in an all-round way was
set at the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of
China. This is a long-term strategic task of ours and, at the same
time, the point of departure and focus of our economic work this
year. The key to attaining this target is to give top priority to
development in governing and rejuvenating the country in accordance
with the requirements of the important thought of Three Represents.
We must concentrate on construction and development. We must use
development to resolve difficulties and problems that may arise in
our way forward. We must come up with new ideas for development,
make breakthroughs in reform, break new ground in opening up and
take new moves in all fields of endeavor.
To
come up with new ideas for development, we must energetically
promote the strategic restructuring of the economy, rely on
scientific and technological advances and improvement in the
overall quality of the work force, and balance the pace of
development with the economic structure and the quality and
efficiency of economic growth. In response to the call to build a
well-off society in an all-round way, we need to make great efforts
to adjust the urban-rural, regional and industrial structures to
reverse the trend of widening differences between industry and
agriculture, between urban and rural areas and between regions. We
need to make unified plans for both urban and rural economic and
social development in order to modernize agriculture and speed up
urbanization. We must unremittingly promote development of the
western region and bring about coordinated development of the
eastern, central and western economies. We must take a new road in
which IT drives industrialization, and industrialization, in turn,
stimulates the application of IT. We will optimize and update the
industrial structure to create an industrial pattern with high and
new technology industries as the leader, with basic and
manufacturing industries as the linchpin, and with service
industries developing in an all-round way. We must strengthen our
capability for sustainable development to ensure harmony between
man and nature. The key to making new breakthroughs in reform is to
improve the basic economic system, promote market-oriented reform,
work persistently to eliminate institutional obstacles to
development of the productive forces, and accelerate innovation in
systems and mechanisms. We will unwaveringly consolidate and
develop the public sector of the economy and encourage, support and
guide the development of the non-public sectors, integrating both
in the socialist modernization drive. The basic role of the market
in allocating resources will be expanded. A unified, open modern
market system that ensures orderly competition will be established
and improved to create an environment in which enterprises under
all types of ownership can engage in fair competition.
Macroeconomic regulation will be strengthened and improved. We will
perfect the macroeconomic regulatory system that integrates state
planning with fiscal and monetary policies and utilize all economic
levers jointly to regulate the economy.
To
break new ground in opening up, we need to both "bring in" and "go
global" and participate in international economic and technological
cooperation and competition on a broader scale, in more areas and
at a higher level. By fully exploiting China's comparative
advantages in labor resources and market, we will create a better
investment environment to attract more foreign investment. In
addition, utilization of foreign capital will be combined with the
economic restructuring, reorganization and technological upgrading
of state-owned enterprises and development of the western region.
We will constantly improve the quality and level of the utilization
of foreign capital. The material and technological foundation,
channels for exchange with foreign countries and useful lessons
acquired in the process of "bringing in" will be fully utilized to
encourage and support relatively strong enterprises under all types
of ownership to invest abroad, thereby stimulating export of goods
and labor services and creating more room for economic growth. A
group of strong multinational enterprises and name brands will be
developed, and Chinese enterprises will be made more competitive
internationally. To take new moves in all fields of endeavor, we
will mainly make our work a success, focusing on deepening reform,
accelerating development and safeguarding stability. We must do a
good job in macroeconomic regulation and in economic monitoring and
early warning to promptly pinpoint and solve major problems
affecting the overall interests of the nation, or representing or
indicative of unfavorable trends, so as to ensure smooth operations
and sound development of the economy. We will work energetically to
discover the laws governing macroeconomic regulation and seek
effective ways to strengthen and improve macroeconomic regulation.
Macroeconomic regulatory authorities must remain modest, prudent
and free from conceit and impetuosity and preserve plain living and
hard struggle in their work style. They must work earnestly to
fulfill their duties, solve prominent problems in economic
activities and advance the interests of the overwhelming majority
of our people. We must willingly subject ourselves to the oversight
and guidance of the National People's Congress, and conscientiously
heed opinions and suggestions from the National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. We must
increase our awareness of the law and enhance our ability to act in
accordance with it, never forgetting that we are obligated to serve
the people as public servants. We must continue to perform our
official duties legally, diligently, honestly and devotedly, and
constantly improve the quality and efficiency of our work.
Fellow Deputies,
Successfully carrying out the economic work for this year will be
an arduous task, but one of great significance. We must act in
accordance with the requirements set at the Sixteenth National
Congress of the Party and follow the leadership of the Party
Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as General Secretary and
the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of
Three Represents. We must keep up with the times and work hard with
a pioneering and innovative spirit, take advantage of the favorable
situation to make progress, strive to complete all the tasks for
national economic and social development in 2003 and take fresh
steps in building a well-off society in an all-round way.
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2003)
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