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To: RealMuLan who wrote (36700)	7/29/2003 12:02:21 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

China focuses on social well-being By Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN Senior China Analyst Tuesday, July 29, 2003 Posted: 0654 GMT ( 2:54 PM HKT) HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership is readying a major document on the economy that will for the first time put as much emphasis on social development as on economic growth. According to party sources familiar with the drafting process, the document, which will contain the key words "perfecting the economic system," will be pushing two main points. The first is further promoting market forces through dismantling remnants of the "command economy" such as state fiats and impediments to free competition. New entities set up by Premier Wen Jiabao's cabinet -- such as the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission -- will do more to ensure that financial companies and state-owned enterprises function according to market norms. The pace for liberalizing bastions of government monopoly such as the energy sector, railroads, the mailing system and telecommunications will be speeded up even as foreign firms are being given bigger play. While these reforms are important, they are in line with expectations given Beijing's World Trade Organization-related obligations. The party sources said what was new was the second major theme of the plenum document: the CCP's pledge to promote social well-being alongside economic expansion. The gist of the Hu-Wen team's new thinking was summarized at an academic conference this month by one of the few heroes of the SARS outbreak, Guangdong epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan. "The degree of a country's modernization shouldn't be reflected just by GDP growth," Zhong said. "Social development is just as important." Premier Wen expressed approval in an internal policy session when he said: "One of our legs is longer than the other one." "China has always paid a lot of attention to economic development," he added. "Yet social development is lagging behind." ... A key concept of the forthcoming party document is "redressing imbalances," or rectifying the ancient regime's obsession with the glitzy hardware of modernization. In a speech on the economy on Monday, Wen said the leadership should "establish a more comprehensive view on development." "We must put more emphasis on the harmonious development of the economy and society," said Wen, adding that there should be a more balanced and coordinated approach to allocating resources among cities and villages, and among the different regions. Initiatives The economic document to be endorsed by the plenum will contain several important initiatives. Wen wants more attention and funds for rural China, particularly the landlocked western provinces. ... While Wen also wants FDI and high technology, he is keen to foster industries and product lines -- including relatively low-tech and labor-intensive ones -- that will create the most number of jobs. "I keep tabs everyday on the number of new college graduates who can find jobs," Wen said in an internal meeting earlier this month. ... Other initiatives will include further streamlining the government structure, including the curtailment of nearly half of all county- and village-level administrations. There will also be a fresh impetus to improving China's long-neglected environment, which has resulted in disasters ranging from floods and drought to acid rain. This new-found commitment to social issues could in certain areas contradict the leadership's efforts to boost market mechanisms. Take, for instance, the pressure that Western and Asian governments are putting on Beijing to revalue or to float the renminbi, which some experts think is undervalued by 30% or more. Yet because appreciation of the renminbi will hurt China's exports -- and jobs -- it is unlikely the leadership will in the near future let market forces determine the value of its currency. edition.cnn.com