China's top economic planner says the country is confident that it will achieve its 8-percent gross domestic product growth target for 2009.
CRI's reporter Dan Dan has the story.
Reporter:
Liu Tienan, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference Friday that China has been facing downward pressure from the global economic downturn, especially since the fourth quarter, but that the economy still shows some positive signs.
"Our financial system is healthy as a whole, so the economic fundamentals remain unchanged. We have set an 8 percent GDP growth rate this year. We have the conditions and the confidence to reach this target."
Liu says China's stimulus plans for 10 industries will continue to buoy confidence and support economic development.
The government started introducing stimulus packages for 10 sectors last month. They are designed to support automobile, steel, shipbuilding, textile, machinery, electronics and information technology, among others.
These sectors will take up to three years to implement the required measures.
Liu Tienan says the 10 industries contribute significantly to the country's economic development and are closely related to the livelihoods of 400 million people.
"More than 100 million people work in the 10 sectors, and over 300 million farmers are also involved in these industries. Nearly 60 percent of the listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets belong to the 10 industries. If these sectors could develop smoothly, we could fundamentally address the problems facing finance, taxation, employment, agriculture, rural areas and farmers."
The government hopes the packages will both offset the current economic slowdown and promote industrial restructuring and upgrading. The plans also reflect public concerns and efforts to protect the environment.
Zhu Hongren, an official the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, says the plans will eliminate obsolete industrial facilities that use too much energy and emit pollutants.(www.hxen.com)
"The restructuring of these industries will help eliminate the production capacity that has become obsolete, so that we can develop advanced production capacity, make these industries integrative, and continually propel the optimization of these industries."
Zhu adds mergers and reorganizations will be voluntary for enterprises in each sector, while the government regulates and guides these deals through related laws, regulations and policies.
