State treasury bonds worth 660 billion yuan (US$80 billion) were
issued as fixed asset investment to spur the nation's economic
development over the past five years, top economic planner Zeng
Peiyan said yesterday.
The sale encouraged local authorities, government departments and
enterprises to increase support funds. Bank loans and investment
from other areas of society were also forthcoming.
The T-bond investment boosted nearly 10,000 projects that were
critical in economic restructuring and stimulating domestic
demands.
A
total of 3.2 trillion yuan (US$385.5 billion) was earmarked from
local governments, the private sector and foreign investors.
"This investment played a vital role in boosting economic growth,
improving the economic structure, increasing employment, improving
people's living standards and enhancing the quality of bank
assets," said Zeng, minister of the State Development Planning
Commission.
China has used a proactive fiscal policy as its main tool in
macroeconomic management since 1998 to avoid possible negative
impacts from 1997 Asian financial crisis.
The government decided treasury bonds should play an important role
in promoting economic and social development.
Long-term treasury bonds worth 150 billion yuan (US$18 billion)
were issued this year, bringing the total bond issue from 1998
through 2002 to 660 billion yuan (US$80 billion).
"Maintaining the necessary level of investment from treasury bonds
is helpful in stimulating a relatively rapid growth of fixed-asset
investment," Zeng said at the opening ceremony of Picture
Exhibition on T-bond Projects in Beijing yesterday.
The funds have been used mainly for bond-financed projects under
construction, development projects in the western regions,
technological transformation of key enterprises, water diversion
from the south to the north and water resource conservation in
Beijing and Tianjin.
Those projects also include the reinforcement of 30,000 kilometers
of banks and dykes on major rivers and lakes, development of new
towns for more than 2 million people displaced from their homes
along the banks of the Yangtze River and increased flood diversion
and detention areas by about 3,000 square kilometers.
In
addition, construction of five vertical and seven horizontal
national trunk highways and eight other highways in the western
region was accelerated.
A
total of 25,500 kilometers of new highways were opened to traffic,
including 8,000 kilometers of expressway. This brings the total
length of expressway in China to 19,000 kilometers, ranking the
country second in the world.
Zeng said all local authorities and government departments proved
themselves highly responsible to the country and the people by
strengthening the management of funds from the sale of treasury
bonds and the quality of construction projects.
(China Daily December 3, 2002)