Senior editors from 14 newspapers of Beijing, including the Economic Information Daily and the Overseas Edition of People's Daily, have lately joined hands in selecting China's top 10 economic news events of 2001, which was published on December 29 as the following:
1. China's WTO accession was finalized on December 11, making China the 143rd member of the global trading organization.
2. The Fourth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) passed the Outline of the 10th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2001-2005) on March 15.
3. Under the circumstance of a global economic slowdown, China's economy still maintained a relatively fast rate of growth with an expected GDP 7.3 percent higher than that of previous year.
4. The State Council made decision to rectify and standardize the economic order. Since April the state has investigated and prosecuted a total of 127,000 cases disrupting the market order, revoked 41,800 licenses of various kinds and destroyed 152,700 illegal workshops.
5. On April 23, PT Shuixian (Narcissus) became the first listed company ever to be de-listed in China's stock market, marking the introduction of a de-listing mechanism.
6. The Yinguangxia profit fabrication case was uncovered and from mid-June to October 22, A-share price dropped to below 10 yuan.
7. New steps have been taken in the reform of the cotton and grain circulation system. The Cotton reform is meant to break market monopoly, enable enterprises to engage in the cotton industry and become independent economic entities. The production, purchase and sale of grain will all be liberalized steadily in pilot areas.
8. The State Council has decided to speed up reforms in the administrative approval system, and the State Development Planning Commission has taken the lead in canceling project approval of five kinds of investment projects.
9. Construction of 12 key projects in western region development, such as Qinghai-Tibet Railway, transmitting electricity from west to east and piping gas from west to east, has been kicked off one after another.
10. On December 11 the State Council approved a reform plan of the telecom system, according to which China Telecom splits into north sector and south sector.
(People’s Daily December 31, 2001)
