China's economic growth welcomed to stimulate the world economy
(From The Japan Times March 7 issue)

世界の期待が集まる中国の経済成長

As the annual session of China's National People's Congress has started, achieving sufficiently high economic growth will be indispensable for helping to stabilize Chinese society. It is also something other countries want to see as the world economy is rapidly cooling down due to the financial crisis that started in the United States. In fact, finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of Seven developed nations in February welcomed China's large-scale fiscal spending in their statement.

China's five-year streak of double-digit economic growth was broken last year when growth dropped to a seven-year low of 9 percent. The global economic downturn especially put a brake on exports, which account for about 40 percent of China's gross domestic product. The fourth quarter of 2008 saw the Chinese economy grow only 6.8 percent from the year before.

Premier Wen Jiabao told the parliament that China is facing "unprecedented difficulties and challenges." He set the goal of achieving about 8 percent economic growth in 2009. Growth of this scale is needed to create more than 9 million jobs in urban areas, and absorb new graduates and surplus labor from agricultural villages. To help achieve the goal, local governments will issue bonds worth 200 billion yuan (about ¥2.9 trillion). In addition, tax cuts of 500 billion yuan (about ¥7.2 trillion) will be carried out.

In a reasonable move, China in November decided to spend 4 trillion yuan (about ¥58 trillion) through 2010 to boost domestic demand as a means of stimulating the economy while decreasing reliance on exports. If this helps China play the role of a locomotive for the world economy, China's position in the international community could be enhanced.

As China tries to get out of the global economic crisis, it will be important to improve the quality of products, including electronic appliances. Last year also saw safety problems with foods, such as tainted gyoza dumplings and milk. Improvement in energy efficiency, and reduction of environmental disruption caused by gas emissions and wastewater would benefit not only China but also the world.

全国人民代表大会が開幕した。中国では一定の経済成長スピードの維持は社会の安定を維持するに欠かせないが、世界もその成長に期待している。

中国の5年連続2桁成長は昨年、9%に低下。「かつてない困難と試練に直面している」と温家宝首相は述べ、今年の目標を8%成長としたが、都市部で900万の新規雇用を確保し、新卒者や地方からの余剰労働人口を吸収するのに必要な規模の成長だ。

昨年11月には58兆円を超える内需拡大策が打ち出されたが、世界経済の原動力の役割を果たせば、国際社会での中国の地位は高まるだろう。経済成長に伴い、電化製品や食品といった生産品の質向上も目指すべきだ。エネルギー効率　を高め、ガス排出や廃水による環境破壊を減らすことは、中国だけでなく世界のためになる。