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The Chinese government exercised timely and appropriate control
to promote stable and rapid economic development and took measures
to exercise macro-control over new developments as soon as they
arose in the course of economic operation last year, Premier Wen
Jiabao said Friday.
In the Report on the Work of the Government delivered at the
opening of the Second Session of the Tenth National People's
Congress, 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 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 in the Three Gorges
hydraulic project, the cross-country natural gas pipeline project,
the Qinghai-Tibet railway trunk line, 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.
(China Daily March 5, 2004)
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