OPINION> Commentary
Recovery tailormade for home and abroad
By Ding Yifan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-11 07:48

This year's National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) have drawn more foreign media attention than in the past after Premier Wen Jiabao and other participants showed full confidence in the national economy's ability to recover from the current global downturn.

What is exceptionally noteworthy is the change from past surpluses in the financial budget to this year's deficit.

To boost economic recovery as soon as possible, a total 950 billion-yuan deficit has been planned for the year, or 3.1 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Although this is dwarfed by other major countries, a large-scale spending campaign by China is expected to have a wide range of positive influences.

China has not suffered a domestic financial crisis and thus has no need for its financial bodies to be rescued. On the contrary, large-scale government investment will help reactivate private investment and banking loans, which will revitalize the slowing economy.

The lion's share of government spending will be allocated to promoting technological innovation of industries.

Increased investment will undoubtedly help ease growing employment and export pressures. The new government investment this year is a far larger step than what the Chinese government made to tackle the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Also, the country's large-scale industrial reinvigoration program is not aimed at grappling with the current economic crisis alone, but also aimed at pursuing long-term industrial development centered on quality improvement.

Measures to stimulate innovation and provide new discoveries with much-needed financing channels and preferential taxation policies will help maintain steady and sustainable growth. The pursuit of sustained development requires unremitting efforts to increase input to sharpen domestic enterprises' core competitiveness amid increasingly fierce international competition.

A large part of this year's government spending is also due to flow to the construction of the social security network. The increased input in this regard is expected to boost people's living quality and maintain social stability.

Also, it will help stimulate slackened domestic demand and reverse the country's long-term dependence on foreign markets.

The central government has introduced preferential policies to China's vast rural area to tap its enormous consumption potential.

In his work report to the NPC, Premier Wen Jiabao stressed the development of the rural market and its service system. A sum of 40 billion yuan is planed to subsidize the purchase of home appliances, agricultural trucks, vehicles and motorcycles in rural areas to benefit farmers and manufacturing industries.

The government is also scheduled to work out a series of preferential credit policies to encourage consumption. Great efforts will also be taken to increase the income of low-level urban residents and farmers.

In his work report, Premier Wen also vowed not to relent on boosting exports.

To this end, a diversified market strategy should be developed in an effort to consolidate the country's traditional foreign markets and tap emerging markets.

The country should steadily upgrade traditional processing and trade sector and encourage export-bound processing enterprises to move to underdeveloped central and western regions.

At the same time, the country should import sophisticated equipment, key parts and important energy resources and raw materials.

Great efforts should also be made to pursue a coordinated development of inward and outward investment. On the one hand, the country should promote the flow of foreign investment to high-tech advanced manufacturing sectors, energy conservation, and modern service industries.

On the other hand, it should continue to push for a "go outward" strategy in support of domestic enterprises' investment and mergers in overseas markets

Last year, China's GDP surpassed 30 trillion yuan and its financial revenues transcended 6 trillion yuan. Also, the country's foreign reserves topped 1.95 trillion yuan, while total urban and rural deposits rose to more than 21.7 trillion yuan. These figures demonstrate China's huge potential to increase demand.

It is predicted that the country's economy, after recovering from the current trouble, will advance rapidly and offer great chances for the world economy.

The author is a researcher with the Development and Research Center under the State Council.

(China Daily 03/11/2009 page9)