10th five-year plan: market impetus

Source: CCTV.com

03-02-2006 14:30

Every five years, China sets out a program for social and economic development. During the period from 2001 to 2005, the country made remarkable achievements in GDP growth and per capita income, as well as in the industrial and financial sectors. The guideline behind this success was the Tenth Five-Year Plan, endorsed by the National People's Congress.

Another busy day at this consulting firm.

The number of clients and their market demands are key to its development.

And its CEO and founder Wang Pu understands this rule better than anyone else in the company.

Wang, CEO of Alliance PKU Mgmt. Consultants, LTD., said, "Ten years ago when I founded this company, no one knew what management consulting was about, and few enterprises had the demand for our service. It was not until 2001 that the situation began to change."

In March 2001, the country adopted its Tenth Five Year Plan for national economic and social development.

Compared with the previous nine, it encouraged a pragmatic approach to market-oriented growth.

Wang said, "This created the necessary environment for enterprises to flourish, and with that, a golden opportunity for us to provide our service. In the past five years, our business has grown at least ten times."

The entire sector saw great expansion.

By 2005, the output from the non-public economy had increased over three hundred times, one of the brightest highlights of the five-year span.

This, combined with other progress, contributed to a series of achievements.

Exports surged, foreign exchange reserves hit a record high.

The currency was strong and domestic consumption, dynamic.

Dr. Ba Shusong, State Council Development Research Ctr., said, "When we proposed the growth targets five years ago, we wanted the figures to be flexible and only serve as guidelines. The suggested annual growth rate was 7 percent, while we expected the 2005 GDP to increase by 40% on the basis of 2000. It turns out that market forces made these and other targets easy to achieve."

In 2004, the gross domestic product reached its target, one year ahead of schedule.

And the average growth rate of the first four years was 8.6 percent, with 2005's growth rate topping 9 percent.

Yet, as experts point out, certain sectors became overheated, and the government made adjustments to address this.

Dr. Ba said, "Entering the second half of the five year period, the government stepped up efforts to guide the market to avoid overheating. Excessive and duplicate investment, and heavy consumption of resources are still problems. More work needs to be done for restructuring, while maintaining dynamism of the market."

Restructuring is expected in areas such as the real estate market and some parts of the manufacturing sector, as well as within high-energy consumption industries.

The aim, is more sustained and environmentally friendly growth, while creating a greater number of jobs.

Ultimately, the reforms will guide social resources so they benefit more Chinese.

The country's development concerns each and every Chinese. And a five-year plan is not just a plan, but a guide for over a billion lives. The Tenth Five-Year plan can be seen as a success for improving these lives. And it's the achievements of the people that made that success possible.

Editor:Chen