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Tighter supervision economy to face WTO challenge - Zhu
2002/03/06

Beijing - Premier Zhu Rongji underlined the need for tighter supervision of China's fast growing economy in order to face the challenges of the nation's recent accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), various media report on Wednesday.

The domestic market should be made healthy and ready for global competition, Zhu told the National People's Congress (NPC) at the opening of the parliament's annual session on Tuesday.

According to Zhu, the government will continue heavy spending on public work projects to encourage economic growth, Shanghai Daily reports. China will issue 150 billion Renminbi (US$18.1 billion) in treasury bonds to finance the projects this year, the same amount as last year.

The state will further carry on policies to stimulate domestic demand and investment, deepen reform, open up the domestic market, accelerate economic restructuring and overhauling the market order, the newspaper writes.

WTO membership will, in the short term, challenge less competitive industries and enterprises, the premier said. He admitted urban jobs would also be lost as a result of the WTO membership, but insisted that China's accession "benefits [our] economic development as a whole", the Guardian writes.

According to the Wall Street Journal the frequent invocations of the WTO and its expected impact were one of the few fresh notes in Zhu's speech, which further offered little differences from past speeches to the congress. The premier stressed that this year the state will improve laws and regulations to ensure fair treatment for foreign firms.

The hardship in the agricultural sector, with farmers facing an ongoing decline of income, is among the economic and social problems that need to be solved urgently, Zhu said. The premier announced that the state will increase farmer incomes among others by accelerating agricultural and rural economic restructuring, China Daily mentions.

Earlier, job losses at the countryside as an effect of China's accession into the WTO were estimated to be around 20 million.

Minister of the State Development Planning Commission Zeng Peiyan announced on Tuesday that farmers' income will rise by 4 percent this year. He said the government plans to relax restrictions on farming work and farmers operating business in urban areas, Hong Kong iMail reports

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