¡¡¡¡BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The Chinese government's goal for a 7-percent economic growth in year 2003 is absolutely attainable, said officials and lawmakers attending the ongoing First Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing.

¡¡¡¡In his Government Work Report to the First Session of the NPC, China's top legislature, Premier Zhu Rongji said that based on the overall analysis of the situation at home and abroad, China has set the target for 2003 economic growth at around seven percent.

¡¡¡¡"This growth rate is both necessary and achievable through hardwork," the premier added.

¡¡¡¡"Generally speaking, China's economic development will enjoy a fairly favorable domestic and global environment," said Xu Xianchun, director of the accounting and liquidation department under the National Statistics Bureau.

¡¡¡¡After more than two decades of reform and opening-up, China has made sufficient accumulation in terms of infrastructure facilities,human resources and capital reserves to back a sustained rapid growth of the national economy, said Xu.

¡¡¡¡"Compared with other countries in the world today, a 7 percent growth is already very impressive," said Tang Xiuting, an NPC deputy from China's northernmost Heilongjiang province. "Actually,many countries will be more than contended if their economies could grow by 6 percent annually."

¡¡¡¡However, he said, it is essential for China to maintain a fairly high growth rate, as the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), held in Beijing last November, hadset forth the ambitious goal of quadrupling the country's GDP (gross domestic product) level of year 2000 in 20 years.

¡¡¡¡"This means that in the next two decades, the Chinese economy has to maintain an annual growth of nearly 7.2 percent," he added.

¡¡¡¡Some lawmakers from northwestern Gansu province also acknowledged that it's the need of curbing unemployment and maintaining social stability to keep China's economic growth at a high level.

¡¡¡¡As China recorded an 8 percent growth rate in 2002, many NPC deputies hold this year's projected growth target is a "fairly modest" one, with all negative factors and possible difficulties taken into account.

¡¡¡¡While the internal demand, or domestic consumption, remains weak, the prospects for a global economic recovery are also not evident, especially in the shadow of a possible war on Iraq, said the deputies.

¡¡¡¡Moreover, although the first year has gone by since China's entry into the World Trade Organization, it's still necessary to prepare itself for more challenges or the emergence of certain unexpected negative impact, they added. Enditem