Jiang reaffirms business welcome

Jiang said the next five years will be economically, very important to China

By CNN's Geoff Hiscock
Asia business editor

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Chinese president Jiang Zemin reaffirmed Tuesday night that the welcome mat is out for foreign business in China.

He said China's decision to open up its economy in the past 20 years had delivered rapid economic growth, massive foreign capital investment and large trading flows.

This process would continue, with Jiang committing China to "unswervingly open up and internationalize" its economy.

He predicted China's gross domestic product would reach $1.5 trillion (12.5 trillion yuan) by 2005.

Huge opportunities for investors

AUDIO Jiang Zemin says China's WTO entry will instill vitality 693KB/1:04min AIFF or WAV sound

This would create "huge business opportunities" for overseas investors, with imports from 2001 to 2005 likely to reach $1.4 trillion.

This potential import boost will be welcome news for big trading partners such as the United States, which runs a massive trade deficit with China and has been pressing for greater access to sectors such as telecommunications and financial services.

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China's economy grew 8 percent last year, and most analysts predict growth of 7.5 to 8.0 percent in 2001.

Speaking at the Fortune Global Forum in Hong Kong, Jiang said the next five to 10 years were crucial for China's economic and social development.

Blueprint already in place

AUDIO 2001-2005 identified by Jiang as crucial for China's economic development 1.13MB/1:48min AIFF or WAV sound

He said a blueprint for the next five years was already in place, concentrating on such themes as restructuring, liberalization and deregulation, science and technology, education and training.

China wanted more mergers and acquisition activity, it wanted to open up its mid-western region to foreign investors and it would make it easier for foreign participation in banking, insurance, telecommunications and trading

Jiang said China's accession to the World Trade Organization, expected later this year, would instill new vitality into the Chinese economy and would benefit the region and the rest of the world.

But Jiang's bullish economic scenario for China and foreign investors was tempered by some warning words on economic globalization, which he called "a double-edged sword".

No change to 'unfair' economic order

It had not changed the "unfair" international economic order, and exacerbated the gap between rich and poor nations.

Earlier, Jiang's minister of information industry, Wu Jichuan, told a technology roundtable at the forum that advanced nations should be more forthcoming with technology transfer if they truly wanted to bridge the digital divide.

Wu pointed out that China's telecommunications market was expected to double within five years.

Fixed and mobile line subscribers would reach 500 million users, making China a tremendously attractive market for foreign investors in the telco sector.

The Fortune Global Forum is organized by Fortune magazine, a unit of AOL Time Warner. CNN is also part of AOL Time Warner.

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