Extracts China Criticizes US for Anti-China Bill Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue criticized the US for its planned anti-China bill concerning the human rights issue Tuesday afternoon at the routine press conference. She stated that the US acting Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights Michael Parmly announced on Tuesday that the US will stage a bill on China's human rights on the 57th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. She pointed out that the Chinese Government and people are firmly opposed to such a deed of the US which interferes in China's internal affairs by using the so-called human rights issue. She noted that the Chinese Government has always respected the international communities' universal principles on human rights, and in accordance with China's domestic situations, made positive efforts to promote and protect Chinese people's human rights and basic freedom with great and remarkable achievements. The various criticisms of the US on China on the excuse of so-called human rights issue are totally unreasonable and with ulterior motives, the spokeswoman noted. China has always advocated that on the basis of equality and mutual respect, disputes over human rights issue among different countries should be treated and solved through dialogue and exchanges, said Zhang. Confrontations can only interfere in the international human rights cause, and will not be of any help to the development of bilateral relations, she added. "We hope that the US change its ways and return to the right track of dialogue," she conclud **** China Issues Article on US Human Rights Conditions In response to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of the year 2000 issued Monday by the US State Department, the Chinese government Tuesday released an article headlined "US Human Rights Record in 2000" detailing rampant infringement of human rights in the United States. This is the second consecutive year that the Chinese government, through the Information Office of the State Council, has released an article on the US human rights record. The article said that the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of the year 2000 issued by the US State Department denounced more than 190 countries in the world, including China, for their human rights conditions, and falsely accused these countries of certain abuses. At the same time, the US report on human rights around the world had nothing to say about America's own human rights situation, the article said. Citing a number of examples and cases, the six-part article dispelled the myth of "American Democracy," giving a blow-by-blow account of human rights violations in the US, such as escalating violence, unfair judicial practice, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, widespread gender discrimination and racial discrimination, ill-treatment of children and minorities, as well as its arbitrary interference in the human rights issues of other countries. **** President Jiang Zemin Meets Foreign Celebrities at Asia Forum Chinese President Jiang Zemin Meets Foreign Celebrities at Asia Forum ------------------------------------------------------------------------Chin ese President Jiang Zemin met Monday with foreign celebrities attending the Boao Forum for Asia. Among the celebrities were former Australian Prime Minister Robert Hawke, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, former Filipino President Fidel Ramos and Secretary-General of the forum Ajit Singh. After the meeting, Jiang had a friendly conversation with Hawke, Yasuhiro, Ramos and Singh. Jiang said Hawke and Ramos are two initiators of the forum, and Japan also joined the launching of the event. He said the smooth opening of the forum demonstrates their far- sightedness. Jiang also congratulated Singh on assuming the position of Secretary-General of the forum. Ramos said he was glad to attend the forum, adding that the event will be of vital importance for the economic and social development of the Philippines. Hawke said China had been the first choice for the venue of the event when they were considering establishing the forum, adding that the successful launching of the forum owes much to the support of the Chinese government and the provincial government of Hainan. Yasuhiro said the forum should be taken good care of after it is established. Jiang said China has always attached importance to and supported multi-level and multi-channel regional cooperation and dialogue. He said he believes the forum will be a useful complement to other inter-governmental cooperation mechanisms such as APEC and ASEAN, and meetings between the leaders of China, Japan and the ROK. Jiang said he hoped that the forum would become a new linkage for dialogue and cooperation in the region, and play a useful role in promoting prosperity and development in Asia. **** China's WTO Entry Benefits Global Economy China's imminent entry into the World Trade Organization will benefit the Southeast Asia economy and the global economy as a whole, said incoming WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi Monday. Supachai, who is in Hong Kong as a guest speaker to the British Chamber of Commerce, predicted that China could join the WTO as early as 2001 and could be a full participant in the next round of WTO negotiations. China's WTO membership will ensure more certainty of China's participation in the world trade system, said Supachai. Supachai, who would take his post in September 2002, believed though China is getting the most-favored-nation treatment around the world, having China in the WTO would mean more certainty in China's participation in the world economy. "China's WTO entry would be a boost to the world trading system, and that will be good for the Chinese economy itself and good for the rest of us," he said. As a major economy in the world, Supachai said China can help to stabilize the world economic condition once it enters the WTO. The United States is now the major and the only driving force behind the economic growth around the world, and this is not good, he said. "So if China comes to the scene with a sizable economy, one of the top ten economies in the world, it would be a major stabilizer, " said Supachai. He predicted China's market share in the world economy would grow in five years' time from 3.5 percent to 7 percent. The WTO chief designate also believed China should become a bridge between the less developed and more advanced countries in the WTO, because "China knows how to cope with situations both in developing and developed countries." "At home, China has some advanced economies in some coastal areas and poor economies in the western and northern parts," he said, adding that for this reason, "China would be able to understand the problems of the developing countries and also the more advanced countries'issues." China's being a major participant in the global trading scene would open up new opportunities, particularly for countries in southeast Asia, said Supachai. Though Southeast Asian countries may be losing some market shares to China's products, Supachai said "hopefully there will be new market shares to be earned in China itself" after China joins the WTO. "China's WTO entry will open up new prospects for markets in Asia, particularly for Southeast Asian nations to expand," he said. However, in the short term, only countries which are best prepared in Asia would be able to benefit from China's WTO entry, Supachai said. **** China's GDP Grows 8 Percent Preliminary estimates by China National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in 2000 was 8.9404 trillion yuan, an increase of 8 percent over the previous year in constant terms. This estimated growth rate was 0.9 percentage points higher than that in 1999. Zhu Zhixin, commissioner of the NBS, told a press conference Wednesday, February 28, that in 2000, departments and governments at all levels implemented in real earnest the policies aiming at expanding domestic demand, and continued to pursue the pro-active financial policy and the robust monetary policy which lead to significantly improved quality of economic performance. Zhu said that the growth of the primary industry was 2.4 percent, that of the secondary industry was 9.6 percent, while that of the tertiary industry was 7.8 percent. He said that statistical facts have indicated that in 2000 the Chinese economy had overcome the difficulties brought about by the Asian financial crisis, and showed signs for the favorable circle of development. However, he pointed out that problems still exist in economic performance and social development, including the still prominent irrational economic structure as was reflected by the unstable basis for economic pick-up, and the lack of a system for sustained growth of social demand, as well as the difficulties in life condition for some people due to the slow increase of farmers' income. Increased Foreign Trade China registered a total volume of foreign trade of 474.3 billion US dollars in 2000, up 31.5 percent over the previous year, said Zhu Zhixin. Zhu said that in the year, China's foreign exchange reserves rose to US$165.6 billion, an increase of US$10.9 billion as compared with that at the beginning of the year. China exported US$249.2 billion-worth goods in 2000, up 27.8 percent, while the imports stood at US$225.1 billion, up 35.8 percent. Utilization of foreign capital was also turning for the better, said Zhu. In 2000, China's government approved a total of 22,347 new projects funded by foreign capital, up 32.1 percent over 1999. The contracted foreign capital reached US$62.4 billion, up 51.3 percent, while the sum of real foreign capital used was US$40.7 billion, up one percent. Stable Market Price Total retail sales of consumer goods were 3,415.3 billion yuan, up 9.7 percent over 1999, a real growth of 11.4 percent allowing for price changes, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The sales of means of production by wholesale and retail enterprises above the designated size were 1,580.8 billion yuan, up 23.7 percent, the commissioner of NBS said. The consumer price level of the year was up 0.4 percent, reversing the trend of declining for consecutive two years starting from 1998. Analyzed by category of commodities, the prices for service items went up 14.1 percent, and a 4.8 percent rise for housing. Meanwhile, with the fast economic growth and price hike of petroleum on the international market, the ex-factory prices of manufactured goods rose by 2.8 percent, and the purchasing price for energy, raw materials and power went up by 5.1 percent. Economic Efficiency Economic efficiency of China's industry was significantly improved in 2000, with the overall efficiency index for industrial enterprises hitting a record 117.8 points since 1992, announced Zhu. According to Zhu, the profits made by industrial enterprises above designated size reached record 426.2 billion yuan since 1990, or up 86.2 percent over the previous year. In particular, that created by the state-owned and state- holding enterprises increased by a large margin to reach 239.2 billion yuan. Zhu also announced that the targets set for the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and lifting those enterprises out of difficulty have been met over the past year. The total losses by state-owned and state-holding loss-suffering enterprises were down by 26.7 percent over the previous year. Meanwhile, production and marketing situation continued to improve, the sales ratio of industrial enterprises above designated size was 97.71 percent, up 0.46 percentage points, noted Zhu. The economic efficiency in the circulating field also improved to some extent. Related figures show that the net sales income in the first 11 months of 2000 reached 2.3982 trillion yuan, with an annual increase of 17.3 percent. Synchronous Growth in Fixed Assets Investment China's completed investment in fixed assets in 2000 was 3.2619 trillion yuan, up 9.3 percent over the previous year, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In terms of different economic entities, the investment of state-owned units and other types of units was 2.3284 trillion yuan, up 9.2 percent, collective investment was 473.9 billion yuan, up 9.2 percent. The investment of urban and rural residents was 459.6 billion yuan, up 9.5 percent, said NBS commissioner Zhu Zhixin. Investment in fixed assets reversed the trend of significant slow-down of the growth rate in the previous year and showed the momentum of synchronous growth of investment by State-owned enterprises, collectives and urban and rural individuals. People Enjoy Better Life The Chinese people enjoyed a better life in 2000 with increased incomes, said Zhu Zhixin. Zhu told the press conference that the annual per capita disposable income of urban households in 2000 was 6,280 yuan, a real increase of 6.4 percent over the previous year. Influenced by grain output decrease, the per capita net income of China's rural households was 2,253 yuan, a mere real growth of 2.1 percent. In 2000, Chinese urbanites purchased some 143 million square meters floor space of housing, up 40.1 percent over the previous year. Their per capita expenditure on healthcare was 318 yuan, up 29.5 percent. In the year, China's urban residents spent 628 yuan on education, recreational and cultural activities, up 10.7 percent over 1999. They also spent 317.6 billion yuan on tourism, up 12.7 percent. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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