Commercial Times: Brightness, blind spots in China's economic change

作者:1 发布时间:2010-03-22 文字大小:【大】【中】【小】
 2010/03/21 20:33:11
The world is very concerned about the way China will adjust its economic structure in an effort to better meet both internal and external challenges.

Judged from the conclusions reached at the just-ended annual meetings of both Beijing National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Consultative Conference, there are many "bright" and "blind" points in the adjustment policies to be carried out in the years ahead.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in his reports to the meetings, focused his efforts on adjusting the "priority industries, " cultivating strategically important emerging industries, boosting small- and medium-sized enterprises, promoting the service and energy-saving industries, as well as balancing regional development.

In other words, Wen is to establish a technically advanced, environmentally friendly, regionally balanced and highly efficient economic and social system.

The policy guidelines are laudable for being concrete and clear enough, with budgets planned and agencies designated for implementation, ensuring monitoring and evaluation, allowing the public to have a clear picture of future national development.

It is generally believed that the adjustment plan signifies an important step forward in China's efforts to upgrade its overall economy.

However, there are also several "blind spots" that were left unaddressed, including a lack of necessary coping measures.

One of the most apparent shortcomings is the delinkage between the movement of the Chinese yuan and economic adjustment, as the meetings only resolved to complete a mechanism for the currency's changes in value without underlining its future role in line with economic change, leaving it unclear whether changes in the value of China's currency will be helpful or detrimental to China's economic adjustment programs.

In addition, the meetings also failed to directly address the problem of rising property and real estate prices in big cities and the resultant hot or speculative money that will continue to flow into the property market, squeezing investment in other sectors and hobbling China's economic adjustment. (March 21, 2010) (By Bear Lee) ENDITEM/J


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