The 10th Five-Year Plan period ranging from 2001 to 2005 has seen great progress in China as it marks the first five-year plan period in the new century and the country's third strategic deployment. It's also the first five years after the socialist market economy took shape in China.

Recalling the past five years at the dawn of 2006, we see breakthroughs on GDP figures, opening-up process and people's living standards. The achievements are results of the country's continuous efforts on boosting its domestic demand. The central government has adhered to a series of macro-economic control policies to deal with the complicated international economic environment after the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

The past five years witnessed fast, healthy and sustained economic growth. According to the just concluded first national economic census, China's GDP reached $1.9317 trillion, ranking the sixth in the world and approaching UK's $2.133 trillion, the fourth in the world, and France's $2.0463 trillion, the fifth in the world.

China made its record of GDP per capita of $ 1,000 in 2003 and $ 1,490 in 2004, which was $ 634 higher than that in 2000. An authoritative opinion holds that the first national economic census and the data concerning the first three quarters of 2005 indicate an annual GDP growth of well-above 9 percent on average during the 10th Five-year Plan period, much faster than the 8.3 percent annual rate during the Ninth Five-year Plan period.

China's integration into the world's economic globalization has sped up and its role in the global economy is increasingly important since it joined the WTO in 2001. Three years later, China's foreign trade valued $1.1548 trillion, 2.4 times that in 2000 and ranked the third in the world, compared with the eighth in 2000. Its share in the world trade rose to 6.2 percent in 2004 from 3.6 percent in 2000. Over three years from 2001 to 2004, China's imports and exports totaled $3.1362 trillion, $1.3623 trillion more than that in the Ninth Five-year Plan period.

China also attracted and utilized much more foreign investment in the 10th Five-year Plan Period. From 2001 to 2004, China actually used $224.9 billion of foreign capital, about 95% of it was foreign direct investment (FDI). By the end of 2004, the country recorded $609.9 billion of foreign exchange reserves, $444.3 billion more than that at the end of 2000.

A stronger national strength means a better life for people. Employment is expected to reach 760 million by the end of 2005, compared with 720 million in 2000. Over 100 million rural laborers migrated to urban areas by the end of 2004. Urban residents and rural population saw their average net income per capita increase by 9.6 percent and 5 percent respectively over the four years between 2001 and 2004.

Life has become more comfortable and convenient. More families have cars and live in bigger houses. Over the past five years, some 1.3 billion square meters of housing space was built annually. Urban residents will likely occupy a floor space of 26 square meters per person in 2005, 6 square meters larger than that in 2000.

The number of telephone users has soared at a staggering pace over the past five years. Every year there were 100 million new subscribers for fixed and mobile phone services. Now China has the largest number of both fixed and mobile phone users in the world.

The Engel's coefficient, the percentage of food costs to total spending and the major indicator of living standard, dropped to 37.7 percent and 47.2 percent in urban and rural areas respectively. The figures stood at 39.4 percent and 49.1 percent in 2000.

Chinese people are spending more in traveling. Holidays, especially the week-long ones, see brisk business in domestic market. In addition, Chinese travelers also visit tourism attractions around the world.

By People's Daily Online