Fang Xiaoyu, a deputy to the Ninth National People's Congress ( NPC), said the biggest challenge facing China after it joined the World Trade Organization late last year is for the government to improve its performance, especially management of economic affairs.

The deputy said the government should stop intervening in business operations of State-owned companies or initiating development projects in a certain industry, which could be best decided by businesses.

China has been streamlining its government organs in recent years, cutting down the number of items that require administrative approval, and overhauling laws and regulations in light of the WTO rules.

Sun Qianju, an NPC deputy and a manager of the Songhe Liquor Co in Henan province, central China, said his company is having a hard time because local governments ordered the profitable company to make acquisitions in the 1990s to expand into other industries.

The deputy said government interventions were to blame for the dire situation of his firm.

The lawmakers called on the government to concentrate its efforts on providing public services, improving the infrastructure and protecting the environment, and expanding undertakings of science, culture and education.

Wang Ping, another NPC deputy, said a priority for the government is to bring about an orderly market and improve the investment environment.

( March 4, 2002)