THE REVOLUTION MADE IN CHINA Part 6 Ahmed Magem @ahmagem The Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991-1995) marked the beginning of a phase of renewed economic reform under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. After the Tiananmen Incident in June 1989, in which the government brutally suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations, conservatives in the Communist Party leadership called for a slowdown of economic reforms. They argued that inflation and corruption caused by economic liberalization were the root cause of the student demonstrations. During a power struggle between conservatives and reformers, reformist leader Zhao Ziyang was ousted from his positions as President and Party Secretary and replaced by Jiang Zemin, who took a more conservative approach to economic and political reform. In 1992, Deng Xiaoping made his Southern Tour, where he famously stated, “Some people need to get rich first.” Deng’s speech signaled his support for expanding market reforms. During this period, Premier Zhu Rongji played an instrumental role in sustaining economic liberalization by implementing macroeconomic policies to control inflation. These policies were successful in controlling several bouts of high inflation caused by rapid economic growth. Eighth Five-Year Plan Goals: Many of the goals of the Eighth Five-Year Plan remained the same as the previous Five-Year Plan: Continued reform of the economic system, particularly the tax system Improve product quality and economic efficiency and manage growth rate so that the quantity and quality of goods is not sacrificed Continued development of foreign trade Continued improvement of the standard of living and cultural life of Chinese Continued rise in energy, communications, telecommunications and raw material production Eighth Five-Year Plan Results: The Eighth Five-Year Plan was mostly a success. The economy continued to grow, infrastructure continued to expand and living standards for most Chinese continued to rise. Coal, cement, food, cotton, cotton dresses and television output were the highest in the world; steel and chemical fiber outputs ranked second globally; electricity supply was the third highest in the world. China was ranked 11th in import and export volume. Quality of life also rose during the Eighth Five-Year Plan. Average income increased, as did the size of people’s homes and their access to radio and television. The percentage of the population living in poverty decreased by 15 million to 65 million in 1995. Population controls were firmly enforced. Gross National Product: 5.76 trillion yuan Investment in fixed assets: 3.89 trillion yuan Completed infrastructure projects: 845 large- and medium-sized Completed transportation infrastructure: 5,800km of railway, 3,400km of double-track lines, and 2,600km of electrified railway; 105,000km of roads including 1,600km of highway; 12 new airports built Annual electricity supply: 9-percent increase Continued reform of economic system, tax system decentralized and new tax system set up Public sector began playing a larger role in the economic market Foreign trade developed rapidly with trade volume reaching over US$1 trillion Per capita income: 1,578 yuan Retail Sales: 6.7275 trillion yuan ------------------------------------ Are you taking note of the series? Can you relate to any of it? Lets go to Part 7
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 15:00:28 +0000
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