Four factors bolster China's economic growth

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-06-18 15:00

China's 10 percent per annum economic growth can be sustained and will not "suddenly slow down", said Fan Gang, a renowned economist and member of the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee.

"Although China's economy faces a number of challenges and risks, the high growth rate is bolstered by four important factors," Fan said at a forum in North China's Tianjin Municipality.

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The first factor is China's reforms. Fan said that as long as China pursues social and economic reforms, its economy will keep growing rapidly.

"One important reform is the privatization of State-owned enterprises (SOEs). Over the past 10 years, 27 million workers laid off from SOEs have found jobs in the private sector," he said.

The second is the fact that China has opened up to the outside world, welcoming all kinds of foreign investments and gradually opening its banking sector.

The third factor is education and technology support. According to Fan, the central government has invested a huge amount of capital and human resources in developing education and technology.

"The effect will emerge over time, but it is definitely a strong stimulant to China's growth," he said.

Fan said the final factor was urbanization which proved to be a vital driver of market demand and produced massive investments in infrastructure.

China's urbanization drive aims to turn 45 percent of the rural population into urban residents, according to Fan.


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