Premier: macro economic control takes effect
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-06-14 13:49

The overall situation of the Chinese economy is fine at present as the government's macro economic control efforts have taken effect, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said during an inspection tour of central China's Hubei Province last week.

"The over-rapid growth of investment has been curbed, the increase of money supply and credit has slowed down, the prices of production means have started to drop, and the destabilizing, unhealthy factors in economic operations have been checked to some extent," said Wen during his meetings with the local officials.

Meanwhile, he said, China's national economy has maintained a rapid growth, with both agriculture and industry further strengthened and the people's livelihood further improved. The country's foreign trade has witnessed a constant rise and the government's financial revenue has reported a sharp increase.

"All these have shown that the macro economic control policies and measures adopted by the central authorities are timely, correct and effective," said the premier.

He urged all regions and all departments across the country to "understand and implement the central authorities' decision and arrangements regarding macro economic control in a comprehensive, correct and positive manner", to "consolidate the achievements and prevent recurrence of problems" and to "maintain a smooth and fairly rapid development" of the economy.

Since late last year the Chinese government has taken a series of macro-control measures to curb the overheating of the national economy.

These measures include tightening up control over investment and bank loans through a combination of economic and legal means, raising the deposit-reserve ratio for financial institutions, strictly checking on illegal land acquisition and use, and cutting industrial projects which consume lots of energy and resources but lack economic efficiency.

However, the premier conceded that "macro economic control remains an extremely arduous task" as "there are still no fundamental solutions to the outstanding problems in economic operations".

The supply of coal, electricity and oil and the country's transportation capabilities are still under quite a strain judging from the actual demand, and the investment scale is still larger than normal, he said.

"In our macro-control efforts, we must lay emphasis on deepening reforms, readjusting structure and changing the mode of economic growth," he stressed.

During his stay in Hubei from June 8 to 12, Wen, also a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee, also visited several local hi- tech companies and chatted with local grain-growing farmers, ordinary urban residents and doctors engaged in AIDS prevention and control.