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Conference a milestone in strategic transition

By Qin Xiaoying (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-12 07:43

The author is a researcher with China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies

This year's Central Economic Work Conference is a milestone in the history of China's economic development. The annual conference, which is aimed at mapping out plans for next year's economic development, was convened this time in the midst of a global financial crisis and also when China marks the 30th anniversary of its adoption of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978.

Special coverage: Central Economic Work Conference Related readings:  Strong foundation to help China sustain growth  Economic Conference ends with vow to maintain stable growth

The significance of the three-day gathering, concluded on Wednesday, thus goes beyond the economic domain.

It was agreed at the conference the country should increase the contribution of domestic market to the economy and gradually reduce its dependence on foreign trade, the first time that such a stance was put forward by the central authorities.

At the meeting, addressed by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, the top leadership also vowed to boost domestic consumption and to gradually increase the proportion of labor income in the country's gross domestic product to optimize the interests distribution between capital and labor.

All these inspiring announcements demonstrate policymakers' acute insight into the changing economic situations at home and abroad as well as their courage and determination to change the previous investment- and export-centered development strategy.

However, an effective implementation of these far-sighted guidelines depends on whether or not governments at various levels have a sober perception about the rapidly changed domestic and international political and economic environments.

Since its adoption of the reform and opening-up initiative in the late 1970s, the Chinese government and people have never missed any major opportunities to boost self-development. In the context of the ever-expanding global market and commercial opportunities it produces, our manufacturers have rapidly forged a worldwide manufacturing industry that has produced more than 60 percent of the world's articles of daily use.

We have succeeded in capitalizing on the rare period of peace in the world and an ever-deepening globalization to accelerate the development of our infrastructure network and some primary industries. China has reached the world's No 1 position in many sectors, such as steel and cement manufacturing, rising from the serious insufficiency of an earlier period.

It is the country's successful utilization of the rare strategic opportunity that has laid down a solid foundation for its elevation to the status of a world economic power.

This year, the country and its people have experienced both great jubilation and deep distress, ranging from the inspiring Beijing Olympics to the catastrophic earthquake in Sichuan province. The country also could not keep away from the ongoing global financial tsunami, which has already plunged the world's economy into a recession and has seriously damaged its external economic environment. The contracting external demand has led to the decline of this export-driven economy.

Also, the decades-long strategic opportunity our late leader Deng Xiaoping once urged our country to grapple is almost gone and the emerging economy is now in a new period of transition.

Under these circumstances, we should try to reduce our excessive dependence on foreign trade to bolster our economic development and take immediate and workable measures to base economic growth upon the prosperity of domestic market. Only thus can the country reduce the impacts of the global economic fluctuation on its economic development.

A sustained economic growth should rely on a booming domestic market and improved consumption ability among its large number of people. Only a consumption-driven economy can enjoy an enduring force for a long-term and healthy development.

The efforts and measures to expand employment and narrow the urban-rural gap promised by the top authorities at the Central Economic Work Conference will contribute much to the country's advancement toward these goals. For their realization at an earlier date, China should most importantly try to expand the share of labor income in the whole GDP aggregate to push for a smooth economic transition.

In the ensuing years after the country carried out the reform and opening-up policy, the income of farmers gained a substantive boost, thanks to the increase in the purchase prices of some agricultural and sideline products and the adoption of the more productive household contract system.

Urban residents' income also greatly improved due to the implementation of the bonus system and other stimulus measures. However, the proportion of labor income has gradually declined in the whole GDP value with the adoption of the multiple income distribution systems. Statistics show that labor income only accounted for 36.2 percent of the country's GDP in 2005, 19.8 percentage points lower than that in 1983. The low labor value /GDP ratio was only one third of that in developed countries and even lower.

This has not only directly resulted in an unbalanced contribution of consumption and investment to the GDP growth, but has also further widened the income gap between different social groups. Facts prove that the ever-rising per capita GDP has essentially not brought due benefits to many ordinary people. This phenomenon will easily induce people to doubt the real purpose of the country's unremitting efforts to pursue economic growth. This, if not reversed, will affect social stability in the long run.

A reasonable and scientific governance philosophy should be fully embodied in a reasonable and national wealth distribution system. The just-concluded Central Economic Work Conference signals a crucial step the central government has taken toward this goal.