China has shifted the focus of its macro-economic policy from fast growth to quality and structural improvement on the basis of rapid growth over the past 13 years, according to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The report released by the NBS Friday said after the ups and downs in the 1980s and 1990s, China has successfully set the economy on a stable annual growth rate of 8.3 percent during the 1996-2000 period and a rate of around seven percent at the beginning of the new century.
NBS statistics showed the retracting, anti-inflation policy the Chinese government adopted in 1988 led to a sharp slowdown of the economy in 1989 and 1990, when the economy grew at 4.1 percent and3.8 percent for two consecutive years.
But signs of overheating re-emerged during 1991-1995 as the economy steamed ahead at an average annual rate of 12 percent, according to the NBS.
The Chinese government managed to achieve a soft-landing for the economy in 1996 by lowering the inflation rate to 6.1 percent. The economy continued to improve in 1997 before the Asian financial crisis struck the next year.
The NBS said serious flooding and the Asian financial crisis put chills on China's economy in 1998 and threatened to drag it into downward spirals. However, the Chinese government promptly readjusted its macro-economic policy and concentrated resources on expanding domestic demand. As a result, the economy rode the Asian financial crisis and continued to maintain a rapid growth with the backdrop of a slowdown of global economy.
According to the NBS, the Chinese government has accumulated rich experience in overcoming both inflative and deflative trends over the past 13 years. The NBS said the Chinese government has increased its skill in steering the economy by promptly responding to the changes in the international economic and political situations.
Before 1989, the Chinese government used a hand on policy with general demand and supply by telling factories what they should produce and setting the prices for their products. However, these practices have been abandoned over the past 13 years as the government has learned to use such leverages as fiscal, monetary, industrial and trade policies to readjust the economy.
The NBS said the experience the Chinese government accumulated in managing the economy over the years will greatly benefit the country's growth in the future.
(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2002)
