Beijing will take the lead in China to achieve modernization in the next five years, with an annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 9 percent, Jia Qinglin, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, pledged yesterday.

It is estimated that the per capita GDP in Beijing will reach US$6,000 by 2008, double last year's amount.

When presenting his work report to the city's Ninth Party Congress, which kicked off yesterday, Jia vowed to increase the income of both urban and rural residents by 6 percent to greatly enhance their standard of living.

Urban residents will enjoy a housing area of 20 square meters per person at that time, Jia predicted.

"A solid foundation is expected to be laid in the next five years to build Beijing into a first-rate international metropolis," Jia told the 710 delegates at the conference.

To achieve that goal, Beijing will have to take a more active role in global economic cooperation and competition, Jia said.

He also said an action plan will be drafted by the Beijing municipal government to meet the requirements of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The construction of several industrial parks will be sped up.

They include Zhongguancun Scientific Park, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, the central business district and Tianzhu Export Processing Area.

The city will encourage the use of high-technology in remolding traditional industries to invigorate manufacturing industries, according to Jia.

Jia said efforts will be continued to deepen the reform in state-owned enterprises and foster some competitive enterprise groups.

Meanwhile the municipal government will work hard to build a more transparent and fair market.

The municipal government will promote the opening up to the outside in banking, insurance, stock, trade, tourism and intermediary services, Jia said.

Multinational companies are encouraged to continue to invest in the capital's high-tech industry, urban infrastructure facilities and the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, he said.

Jia also said the city should make better use of foreign investment in purchase, annexing, fund investment and securities investment by attracting direct overseas investment as the core.

In the last five years, Beijing has made good use of US$15.4 billion in foreign investment and recorded exports worth US$18 billion; both figures are double the amount of the previous five-year period, Jia said.

Cheng Shi'e, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Commission for Inspecting Discipline, yesterday delivered a work report to the conference about anti-corruption and efforts to build an honest and clean government since Beijing's eighth session of CPC in 1997.

More than 4,530 officials have been punished and 510 million yuan (US$62 million) in economic losses have been recovered since then, Cheng said.

Reform of the administrative approving system, financial system and personnel system will be strengthened this year so as to eradicate the root of corruption, Cheng said.

(China Daily May 18, 2002)