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China's
Spotlights in 2001
1. China
was admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO) last November
10 when the body's fourth ministerial meeting in Doha unanimously
agreed on its elevation. This followed some 15 years of negotiation.
The accession was finalized one month later, making China
the WTO's 143rd member. Following its entry, China has reiterated
its promise to further improve its market economy and work
with other WTO members in developing a multilateral trade
system wholly in line with the organization's rules and regulations.
2. Last
July 13 saw Beijing fulfill its, and the whole of China's,
dream of winning the right to host the 2008 Olympic Game.
Beijing won its bid during the 112th session of the International
Olympic Committee in Moscow. This victory will considerably
reinforce China's economic aspirations.
Beijing's
winning vote means that, for the first time, the world's greatest
sports event will be staged in the most populous nation. An
International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation commission
report forecasts that "a Beijing Games would leave a
unique legacy to China and to sports".
3. China's
national men's soccer team broke a 44-year-old jinx to land
a spot in the World Cup Finals for the first time by beating
Oman 1-0 in Shenyang Wulihe Stadium on October 7. Coached
by the globe-trotting Yugoslav Bora Milutinovic, China finished
the Cup qualifying competition with a 12-1-1 win-draw-lose
record in their seventh attempt since 1957 to enter the finals.
They gained an unbeatable lead after the October win and also
a ticket to the South Korea-Japan World Cup this year. A 10-team,
second-round qualifier that saw the top finishers of the two
groups directly qualifies for the finals.
4. Shanghai
last October saw a highly successful ninth informal meeting
of leaders from the 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
member states. Chinese president Jiang Zemin, who chaired
the meeting, delivered a keynote address and held high-powered
meetings on economic issues with the world leaders, including
US president Bush, who also attended the conference.
APEC members
focused on an area slated as "Meeting new challenges
in the new century, and achieving common prosperity through
participation and cooperation.
This was
the cue for high-level, in-depth exchanges of views on the
current world economic situation, the building of human capacity,
and the future development of APEC. A broad consensus of agreement
was reached, resulting in the issuance of what is now on record
as the "Shanghai Accord."
5. Despite
the global downturn, China's gross domestic product (GDP)
last year totaled 9,645 billion Yuan (US$1,162 billion), 7.4
percent up from 2000, and at base a flying start to the government's
Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005).
The Fourth
Session of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) passed
the Outline of the 10th plan for National Economic and Social
Development (2001-2005) in March 2001.
6. The
Sixth Plenum of the 15th Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China (CPC), held in Beijing in late September, called
for sustained efforts to further strengthen the building of
Party style, "clean up" the government, and combat
corruption. The CPC punished several corrupt officials during
2001 in a determined move to reinforce the building of the
Party.
7. Last
year also saw the State Council decide to accelerate reforms
in China's administrative-approval system, and the State Development
Planning Commission cancel sluggish project-approval methods
for five types of investment project. This was good news for
overseas investors in particular.
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