¡¡¡¡5. Actively developing the western region to promote coordinated economic development between regions. We will continue to redouble our efforts to develop infrastructure and improve the ecological environment, focusing first on two priorities. On the one hand, we will speed up implementation of key projects that have a bearing on the nation as a whole. We will make funds available for key projects to ensure their successful implementation. These include the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the projects to divert natural gas and electricity from the west to the east, key water conservancy projects, trunk highways, the Tibet-Xinjiang Project as well as projects for ecological conservation and environmental protection. Construction will start on an additional number of major projects for water conservancy and environmental protection and for building highways, railways and airports at appropriate times. On the other hand, we will launch projects to improve the conditions for living and production in rural areas, focusing on three projects. The first project is to gradually ensure that every county seat in the western region is served by asphalt roads. The second is to return more farmland to forest and return more grazing land to grassland. In 2003, another 3.37 million hectares of farmland will revert to forest and an additional 6.67 million hectares of grazing land to grassland, and another 3.77 million hectares of barren hills and uncultivated land will be afforested. The third is to improve the supply of potable water and energy to rural households and properly resettle the households displaced for ecological reasons. In addition, we will speed up reform and opening up, develop science, technology and education, support and nurture competitive industries in the western region and gradually establish long-termstable channels for funding development there. More resources and support will be devoted to old revolutionary base areas and ethnic minority areas to accelerate their development. We will further strengthen economic cooperation among the eastern, central and western regions, so that they can complement each other and work for common development. 

¡¡¡¡6. Continuing to implement the market-oriented reform and rectify and standardize the order of the market economy. We will continue to carry out the reform to transform large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises into standard or joint-stock companies. We support qualified large enterprises in their effort to go public on overseas stock markets. We also support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises under all types of ownership, especially science and technology-oriented and labor-intensive ones. We will intensify our effort to adjust and reorganize enterprises in defense-related and other industries in difficulty and turn around their operation. Achievements in the reform of the telecommunications, civil aviation and electricity industries will be consolidated, and reform of other monopoly industries energetically carried forward. We will formulate laws for the management of state assets and reform their management system in an orderly way from top to bottom so as to prevent their loss. We will improve the mechanism whereby prices are determined mainly by market forces under government macroeconomic regulation. We will improve such systems as holding public hearings on government price-related decisions, expert reviews, group reviews and supervision and examination of prices for important goods and services. We will intensify oversight and management of prices and charges. We will speed up the reform of the investment and financing systems, give enterprises the right to make independent investment decisions and improve macro-regulation of the country's fixed-asset investment. Vigorous efforts will be made to rectify and standardize the order of the market economy. We will deal severely with illegal and criminal activities such as manufacturing and marketing fake or shoddy goods, smuggling, distribution of smuggled goods, and pyramid schemes. Special campaigns against wrongdoings in the market will continue, and we will come down hard on major economic crimes and irregularities that seriously endanger the order of the market economy. We will promptly establish systems for enterprise and individual credit information, so as to develop an honest, credible and lawful market environment as soon as possible. We will strengthen supervision and management of production safety to prevent serious accidents.

¡¡¡¡7. Opening the country wider to the outside world and making better use of both domestic and international markets and resources. We will continue to do good work in all areas related to China's WTO membership during our grace period. Great efforts will be made to encourage more enterprises to engage in foreign trade and to diversify our export markets. Policies and measures favoring exports will be retained, and methods including tax exemptions, discounts or rebates for goods exported by producers on their own will be improved. We will improve the mechanism to respond rapidly to anti-dumping charges against Chinese enterprises. Proper arrangements will be made to import key equipment, technologies and important raw and semi-processed materials badly needed in the country. The investment environment will be further improved, and service industries will open to the outside world in an orderly manner. In attracting foreign investment, we will focus on acquiring advanced technologies and modern managerial expertise and on recruiting specialists. We will strengthen the unified management of our foreign debt. We will step up the implementation of the "going global" strategy, encouraging and supporting suitable enterprises to invest abroad and operate transnationally in various forms. Regional economic cooperation will be strengthened, and international economic and technological exchanges will be increased.

¡¡¡¡8. Developing and expanding consumer demand and constantly raising people's living standards. We will work conscientiously to improve the consumer environment and to develop and expand consumption. In particular, we will pay close attention to developing rural markets. Unreasonable regulations that stifle consumption will be eliminated. Existing focuses of consumer spending will be strengthened. New consumption growth areas will be developed in community services, entertainment, sports and exercise, sanitation and health care. A system will be establishedand perfected to ensure the supply of low-rent housing to improve the living conditions of low- or middle-income urban residents. Consumer credit will be standardized and developed. Further efforts will be made to develop the tourism infrastructure and to improve the quality of tourism services. We will deepen the reform of the wealth distribution system to increase personal incomes, particularly for the low-income population. A system for assisting low-in come people through a variety of means will be established and perfected to help exceedingly indigent urban families solve their problems in housing, children's schooling, medical treatment and heating. In 2003, the per capita disposable income of urban residents is expected to increase by 6%, and retail sales of consumer goods for the whole country, by 9%.

¡¡¡¡9. Working hard to increase revenue and reduce expenditures and fully exploiting the role of finance in supporting economic growth.We will further improve tax collection and administration to ensure a steady increase in revenue. We will continue to adjust the pattern of budgetary expenditures to ensure first of all that wages and salaries are paid on time and in full. Expenditures will be increased for social security programs. There will be more funds for agriculture and rural compulsory education and health. Transfer payments will be increased for the central and western regions and for areas in straitened circumstances. We will resolutely combat waste and extravagance. Except for key projects requiring additional funding that must be provided in accordance with the relevant laws, regulations and policies, zero growth must be registered in other areas of expenditure. China's budgetary projections for 2003 are revenue of 2.0501 trillion yuan, expenditures of 2.3699 trillion yuan, and deficit in the central budget limited to 319.8 billion yuan. We will deepen reform of the financial system to improve the quality of financial services. State-owned commercial banks will continue providing support loans for projects funded through treasury bonds, lend more money to profitable and trustworthy enterprises with a ready market for their products, and provide more credit to agriculture, small and medium-sized enterprises and county economies. We will further deepen reform of rural credit cooperatives and continue to grant microcredit to individual rural households and guaranteed loans to groups of rural households. We will strengthen financial regulation to reduce the proportion of non-performing bank assets and watch out for and defuse financial risks. We will ensure an appropriate increase in money supply, with the broad money supply (M2) and the narrow money supply (M1)  both rising by about 16%, and the money in circulation not exceeding 150 billion yuan in 2003. We will standardize and develop the securities and insurance markets. (More)

Part Three