Premier sums up 2003
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-06 08:55

Premier Wen Jiabao described the year 2003 as a significant and unusual year for China, in which the country made remarkable achievements in reform and opening up and in the modernization drive.

"We braved difficulties and hardships in an indomitable and innovative spirit and made important advances in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects," he said.

Wen listed last year's achievements as follows:

 China won a great victory in the fight against SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome );

 The economy grew rapidly. China's GDP increased by 9.1 per cent over the previous year and reached 11.67 trillion yuan (US$1.41 trillion). Per capita GDP passed the important benchmark of US$1,000, calculated at the current exchange rate;

 China's financial strength grew noticeably. Total government revenue was 2.17 trillion yuan (US$261.4 billion), 278.7 billion yuan (US$33.58 billion) more than the previous year;

 Foreign trade expanded significantly. Total import and export volume was US$851.2 billion, 37.1 per cent more than the previous year, raising China from fifth to fourth place in the world;

 China created more jobs than planned. Some 8.59 million urban residents were employed, with 4.4 million laid-off workers re-employed;

 Personal incomes increased. Urban per capita disposable income grew by 9 per cent in real terms, and rural per capita net income rose by 4.3 per cent in real terms;

 China's first manned space flight was a complete success.

"These achievements indicate that China's overall national strength has reached new heights," the premier said, adding: "They have boosted the confidence and courage of all the Chinese people to continue forging ahead."

He attributed the accomplishments to the efforts of governments at all levels and the people to put into practice the guiding principles of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) under the leadership of the CPC and the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents, in the face of a complex and volatile international situation, the unexpected outbreak of SARS and frequent natural disasters.

Resolute measures

Premier Wen hailed the country's "great victory" in the fight against SARS last year.

He said China suffered from a disastrous SARS outbreak last spring. The Party Central Committee and the State Council gave top priority to protecting people's health and lives and promptly investigated SARS and took steps to prevent and treat it.

"We enforced the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Treatment of Communicable Diseases, formulated the Regulations on Public Health Emergency Response and classified SARS as a communicable disease," Wen said.

"We reported the facts of the SARS situation exactly as they were and mobilized the general public throughout the country to control the outbreak."

The State Council and local governments established anti-SARS headquarters to co-ordinate human, material and financial resources and to make full use of primary-level organizations in both urban and rural areas, so as to ensure that prevention and treatment work was done quickly and orderly.

The government took such measures as providing free treatment for SARS patients among migrant workers in urban areas to prevent the spread of SARS to rural areas, he noted.

"During the difficult days of our anti-SARS campaign, leading cadres at all levels took to the front lines, the people throughout the country united as one, all sectors of society pulled together, large numbers of medical workers faced danger fearlessly, and the Chinese nation withstood a severe test," the premier said.

Timely and appropriate control

The Chinese Government exercised timely and appropriate controls to promote steady and rapid economic development and took measures to exercise macro-control over new economic developments last year, Premier Wen said.

Wen said that, last year, China adhered to the policy of expanding domestic demand and continued to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy.

"When the SARS outbreak hit, we worked unflaggingly to prevent and control it, while at the same time unswervingly promoting economic development," Wen said.

"We concentrated on strengthening key areas, stimulating industrial production and ensuring an unimpeded flow of goods and materials."

The government promptly adopted such supportive policies as reducing or exempting taxes and administrative charges on industries that were worst hit by SARS and granting soft loans to them, and enacted measures for increasing employment and rural incomes.

"All this helped minimize the impact of the SARS outbreak on economic development," he said.

According to the premier, the government last year provided guidance and control for investment, mainly through a combination of economic and legal means; further rectified and standardized the order of the land market and screened development zones of all types to stop disorderly and unauthorized acquisition of farmland; and increased the deposit-reserve ratio for financial institutions to an appropriate level to bring the excessively rapid growth of credit under control.

The government also expanded support for agriculture, rural areas and farmers and made plans in a timely fashion to ensure the continued enthusiasm of major grain producing areas and grain producers.

In 2003, the premier said, China stepped up the strategic restructuring of the economy and put greater efforts into a number of key projects vital to economic growth and economic restructuring.

He informed the lawmakers of progress on the Three Gorges hydraulic project, the cross-country natural gas pipeline project, the Qinghai-Tibet railway, and the cross-country power transmission project, the cross-country water diversion project, the large-scale development of the western region, and the efforts to revitalize Northeast China and other old industrial bases.

Social undertakings

China accelerated the development of social undertakings on the basis of an overall consideration of all issues last year, Premier Wen said.

The spread of SARS exposed problems arising from disparities between economic and social development, and the government promptly made necessary adjustments to its priorities and investment to stimulate the development of social undertakings, he said.

The central government spent 85.5 billion yuan (US$10.3 billion) in 2003 on education, health, science and technology, culture and sports, 12.4 per cent more than the previous year.

Treasury bonds worth 16.3 billion yuan (US$1.96 billion) were issued to support the development of social undertakings, an increase of nearly 200 per cent.

Last year, the government improved the national public healthcare system, focusing on epidemic prevention and control, and on rural areas. The National Plan for Developing an Information System for Public Health Monitoring and the National Plan for Developing a System for Medical Rescue and Treatment in Public Health Emergencies were formulated and implemented, and a system was set up for early warning and response for public health emergencies.

Public health infrastructure was improved, with the focus on networks spanning provincial, city (prefecture) and country levels for disease prevention and control.

The central government worked with local governments to build more rural health and medical institutions. Pilot projects for a new cooperative medical care system and medical assistance system were initiated in rural areas.

Last year, the premier said, the State Council issued the Decision on Further Strengthening Rural Education. Increased financial support was extended to rural education from the central budget and treasury bonds. Priority was given to subsidizing rural teachers' salaries in the central and western regions, renovating dangerous primary and secondary school buildings, carrying out pilot projects in modern distance education and aiding needy students.

Many cities began to make schooling available for the children of migrant rural workers, and the governments of those cities assumed primary administrative responsibility.

Great progress was made last year in basic research, strategically important high-tech research, and industrial application of new and high technologies. The State Council began formulating a national medium- to long-range programme for scientific and technological development.

Cultural reform and the development of cultural undertakings were vigorously promoted. Efforts were intensified to rectify the cultural products and services market. Fresh achievements were made in amateur and competitive sports.

The premier said population and family planning work was further strengthened, with fresh progress made in the areas of land and resources administration, environmental protection, forestry development and ecological improvement.

People's well-being

The Chinese Government has worked hard to care for people's well-being, create more jobs and administer social security work well, Premier Wen said.

Last year, governments at all levels conscientiously implemented a series of measures drawn up by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council for increasing employment and re-employment and increased their efforts, capital spending and policy support in this regard.

"We consider it highly important to protect the vital interests of the people and help them, especially the needy, in solving problems in their work and daily lives," he said.

Last year, the central government allocated an additional 4.7 billion yuan (US$566 million) in subsidies for job creation and increased employment guidance and services for college graduates. By the end of last year, 83 per cent of the year's graduates from regular institutions of higher learning had found jobs  600,000 more than the previous year.

To continue ensuring the "two guarantees" ( living allowances for workers laid off from State-owned enterprises and retirees' pensions being paid on time and in full) and the "three-stage guarantee" for laid-off workers, the central government spent 70 billion yuan (US$8.43 billion) in 2003, 19.9 per cent more than the previous year; of this sum, subsidies for subsistence allowances for the urban poor increased from 4.6 billion yuan (US$554 million) in 2002 to 9.2 billion yuan (US$1.11 billion) in 2003. This allowed 22. 35 million urban residents throughout the country to receive such benefits.

In 2003, the central government began making annual allocations of special funds to help local governments assist ex-servicemen who are working in enterprises to solve their financial difficulties. Benefits were again raised for disabled revolutionary servicemen and other people who are entitled to special care by the government.

Premier Wen disclosed that in 2003, central budget funds totalling 8.03 billion yuan (US$967.4 million) were spent on relief for people affected by floods, droughts, earthquakes or other disasters, up 63.9 per cent over the previous year, and 2.79 billion yuan (US$336.1 million) was invested in post-disaster reconstruction.

"We made all-out efforts to fight disasters and ensure adequate disaster relief, Wen said.

As a result, proper living arrangements were made for people in disaster-afflicted areas, production resumed and reconstruction proceeded in an orderly way, he said.

Last year the government further intensified efforts to alleviate rural poverty through development and invested more to improve working and living conditions in underdeveloped areas. Meanwhile, governments at all levels took the problem of wage arrears for migrant rural workers very seriously, worked harder to resolve it and achieved initial results, added the premier.

Institutional changes

The Chinese Government pressed forward with institutional innovation and made significant progress in reform and opening last year, Premier Wen said.

Institutional restructuring of the State Council was accomplished smoothly on the basis of the plan approved at the First Session of the Tenth NPC and the adjusted and newly set up bodies are now operating normally, said the premier.

Wen told lawmakers that significant progress was made in establishing a macro-control mechanism, restructuring the management of State assets and establishing a mechanism for oversight and management of the banking sector.

Last year, the central government unified the mechanisms for administering domestic and foreign trade and improved monitoring systems for food and workplace safety. Institutional restructuring of provincial governments has basically been completed. The reform of the administrative examination and approval system was deepened.

The economic returns of State-owned industrial enterprises and enterprises whose controlling stake was owned by the State increased substantially; they generated a total of 378.4 billion yuan (US$45.7 billion) in profits, 45.2 per cent more than the previous year, Wen said.

The reforms of the banking, securities and insurance industries progressed steadily, he added.

Last year, China formulated and implemented a pilot plan to transform State-owned commercial banks into stock entities. The system for examining and verifying the issuance of securities was reformed. Remarkable progress was made in transforming State-owned insurance companies into stock companies.

After several years of deliberation, China began a pilot project for reforming rural credit cooperatives in eight provinces and municipalities directly under the central government.

The experimental reform of rural taxes and administrative charges was extended to cover the whole country, and policies and measures for promoting the development of the non-public sectors of the economy were further implemented.

China deepened the rectification and standardization of the market order and cracked down on manufacturing and marketing of counterfeit and substandard goods, smuggling and other illegal and criminal activities.

"This improved the market climate and helped protect the legitimate rights and interests of both consumers and producers," the premier said.

Wen said China worked conscientiously last year to fulfill the commitments made for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and continued to lower tariff rates and opened the service sector wider to the outside world.

"We formulated and put into effect a plan for reforming the mechanism for export tax rebates; this will gradually bring about a rational settlement of the long-standing problem of overdue export tax rebates," Wen said.

The government also intensified its work dealing with anti-dumping investigations made against China and settling trade disputes.

While further improving the import and export mix, China utilized US$53.5 billion in foreign direct investment in 2003.

State foreign exchange reserves reached US$403.3 billion at the end of the year, US$116.8 billion more than at the beginning, and the exchange rate for the Renminbi remained stable.

"Last year we signed the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with both Hong Kong and Macao, thereby strengthening economic ties between the mainland and the two regions," Wen said.

Legal system improved

China increased its efforts to maintain law and order by taking comprehensive measures last year, focusing on high-crime areas, Wen said.

"We further improved public order by cracking down more severely on violent and other serious crimes," he said.

"We steadfastly enforced laws in the interests of the people and maintained strict police discipline, and we concentrated on the problems of detention beyond the legally prescribed time limits and illegal use of coercive measures to protect the lawful rights and interests of citizens."

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