BEIJING, May 28 -- China's economy can maintain a
steady growth above 8 percent for a relatively long period because of a stable
society, a vast market and ample capital, said Cheng Siwei, an economist and
former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress.
"China's economy can stay in the fast developing
track if we work hard and pay enough attention to existing problems," Cheng said
at a three-day forum with the theme of "Economic globalization and the choice of
Asia: transition, growth and welfare" Wednesday in Shanghai.
"Social stability is crucial to economic development
while China has a market of 1.3 billion people, which creates a huge consumption
power," said Cheng. "Meanwhile, China's foreign reserves have reached US$1.68
trillion, and it has built up an ample capital pool."
China also beefed up its efforts to improve education
and expand its coverage, which paved the way for sustainable economic
development, he said, but added that there were problems China could not afford
to ignore.
One of them was the yawning gap between the rich and
the poor. The income of urban residents has tripled that of rural households
while the purchasing power in cities was four times larger than that in rural
areas.
China faced increasing pressure to protect the
environment and in securing raw materials and resources for its economy. It also
lacks a large pool of senior professionals in finance and management.
"For example, we buy a lot of the United States
treasury bonds. It means appointing them (US bond managers) to manage our assets
and we only gained a little bit of interest," said Cheng. "We are trying to work
on such problems."
Cheng estimated China's per capita GDP can reach
US$3,000 by 2010, US$5,000 by 2020 and US$10,000 by 2049, given its economic
expansion and a stronger yuan.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
