The Communist Party of China's Central Committee and the State Council made the right decision in issuing treasury bonds, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said in Beijing Thursday while visiting a photo show on the benefits brought by treasury bonds.
The 1,000-odd photos on display illustrate how the profits from treasury bonds issued since 1998 have brought achievements in areas including agriculture, water conservation, communications infrastructure and technological renovations.
Zhu said China's vast economic achievements during the past few years are primarily a result of the adoption of pro-active and prudent fiscal policies.
Through issuing long-term treasury bonds for construction, China has been able to invest heavily on projects such as infrastructure construction and has fulfilled many important tasks, Zhu said.
He said construction of these major projects has directly spurred the national economic growth, pushed forward industrial restructuring and technological renovations and promoted progress in many other areas, which have greatly improved the staying power of China's economic growth.
From 1998 to 2002, China issued 660 billion yuan (about US$79.52 billion) of long-term treasury bonds for construction. The bonds' proceeds have triggered a total of 3,200 billion yuan (about US$385.54 billion) of investment in more than 10,000 projects, which came from sources including regional governments and enterprises.
These investments are crucial for continuing China's fast growth in the face of the Asian financial crisis and the slowdown of the world economy.
The photo show, which began Dec. 1, is jointly sponsored by the State Development Planning Commission, the State Economic and Trade Commission and three other organizations.
(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2002)
