He said that raising funds would enable China to accomplish the objective of quadrupling by the year 2020 its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000.

Dai, who is in Beijing as a delegate to the ongoing 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), echoed the ambition of Jiang Zemin in seeking to construct a well-off society.

He said China, with a huge domestic market, has already established and is further improving a socialist market system that will maximize its huge domestic market.

Over the past four years, the nation spent 3 trillion yuan (US$362 billion) on infrastructure construction, which has laid the material foundation for a sustained and rapid economic development in the future, Dai said.

In addition, the country's average per capita GDP remains at a relatively low level, compared with developed countries.

"China is thus able to maintain rapid growth for a fairly long period of time to come," he said.

Dai said the country has basically set up a financial system in compliance with requirements of the socialist market economy, with both the financial market system and financial regulation capacity improving remarkably.

The financial sector is opening to the outside world smoothly, while the exchange rate of the renminbi has remained stable for a long period of time, he said.

Figures from the central bank show that China's money supply reached 17.7 trillion yuan (US$2.14 trillion) and outstanding loans totaled 13.5 trillion yuan (US$1.63 trillion) by the end of September.

"Facts prove that the financial system has played an important role in supporting the nation's economic development," Dai said.

On how to raise funds for the building of a well-off society, he said China has sufficient sources of domestic capital. The nation's savings rate stood at 39.6 percent last year -- one of the highest in the world. Outstanding individual deposits have surpassed 8 trillion yuan (US$966 billion).

Rapid economic development and the improving market system are conducive to promoting the inflow of overseas funds, Dai said.

He predicted the amount of foreign direct investment in China will be more than US$50 billion this year.

(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2002)