Liu Shucheng, an economist from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said goals in the proposal announced Wednesday are encouraging, realistic and fully attainable.

He said the Party made a good choice in focusing efforts for the next five years on structural adjustment, technological progress and the improving of the people's living standards.

The economist said this is a wise and timely decision at a time when China has said farewell to short supply of major commodities, basically established the socialistic market economic system, and knocked open the door to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Another economist from the academy, Jiang Xiaojuan, said the proposed goal of having the country's gross domestic product doubled in the next 10 years would mean a 7.2-percent average annual growth, which she said is in line with the general trend in China's economic development.

Jiang said China would open further to the outside during the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, including the opening of its finance and telecommunications sectors to foreign businesses.

She also expects more Chinese enterprises to invest overseas, saying that China's overseas investment may hit 8-10 billion U.S. dollars in the next five years.

Business leaders also welcomed the proposal.

Wang Yuchun, president of Shenyin Wanguo, a major securities company in China, said the goal of the proposal is an encouragement to them and outlined the direction their work should take.

Sources from the Shanghai Fuxing Industrial Co., a private firm listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, said the proposal is good news for private technology companies like Fuxing, as it stresses the importance of technological innovations and promises support for the private sector as well as small and medium-sized businesses.

(People's Daily 10/13/2000)