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Chinas CentralEconomic COnforenceForesees TaSks for2oo8

Chinese leaders concluded a high—Drofile annu al economic confErence OnWednesdav and decided a slEW Of tasksfacing the country’s economy in 2oo8 They ale as fnllows：

Theprimary task ofmacrOeconomic contrOl is to preVentthe economy rrom overheating and thectllTent pnce^ses led by foodsTuff fromevolvlving into\"evldent infiatiOn”．

The meeting decided to shiftthe cOuntry’s monetary policy rrom“prudent”，an approach China hasfollowed for the lastten yeal's，to”tight”But the change of pOlicy must be made tosecure a steady economlc expansjOn

Monetary pOlicy should playgre aIer role in the mldcro—control pol{cyChina will strictly cOntrol the vo1umefdnd grantmg pace Of 1oans，so as tO betterregulatc domestlc demand and balancemternatiollal payments

Fiscaj expendlture mu st beODflmized 1o facilitate indu strialrest ructurlng and coordinate regioflaldevelopment FiscaIi“put in socialsecuFlty'medicage，sanitation，educationand hOusehokI benefitts will see cOncreteincrcase．whle 1ow—lncome famlIies willreceive mOre stipends as an offset ofprice rises forbasic 1iving necessities．

COnsolidate the fundamentalrole of agriculture m Chilla’s economicgrowth sO as tO secure gmin crops，andsupply and enich rurdl Claina

Technical innovation should bebased on m|drket demand and be centeredupon cOre technol。gies that can breakthe bottlenecks Of cbina’s economic andsOcial development．Enterprises shoHldbe put at the cOre of technit a1 innoV aIiOnto enhance national comPetence andfaciIitate emission reduction and energycoilsenvatiOn．

Prices．taxatiOns and financialoollCles should be used as an incentivgto stimulate energy conservation whileeIlvironmental一frlendly and compulsorymarket access criteria must be Dut intOplace．

Envlronmental pr oIection andemIsSlOll reduction shOuld serve as acruelal cntenOn fOr the evaluatiOn Oflocal authorities sO as to promOte theapplcatlol3 of advanced technology and curb the devel。pment of high-polluti“gand high-energy-consumption industries．

Channel more financlal aid tOtindeveloped regiOns，especialIy theinteror revo1utiOnary bases．habitats for people Of ethnic groups，border reglOns and poVefty—strcken ageas

Urballiz aIion must be advanced ina sustainable manner and not at the costsofland wastc.

Deepen economic reform s，especially in fiscal and taxaIion。ystemsas weU as pricing and inve stment mechanisms so as to faciltate the transferof economic growth mode from qtlantityto quallty．

Advance the Free Trade Areastratgy and strengthen bilateral andmuln-1literal cooperation．Open up ChinawideT to the outside world and impovethe qualjty alld added Value of exportproductS.

DOuble efforts in imprOVlng tholivelihood of the peOple and fael’litatesOclal harmony，includlng expandi“g thesocial benefit and medlcare for urbanand ruresidents，increasing education

capitalinput fdnd bOosting low-rent housecOilstruction.

China Aarees tO Eliminate CertainIndust rial Subsidies

China has agreed tO e11minaIe 12 subsidy programs fordOmestic indusfries by Januarv1，2oo8 The US.in turm，willsusDend its WTO case agaiRst China over these subsidles．and will formally wlthdraw the case when the programs areofficjally abOllshed The full details of the 12 subsldy programstO be elimlnated have not yet been released but are belleVed toinclude a wlde spectrum of mdustnes.

Fixed Assel lnvestment in Textiies/Apparel Soar 3o.7PerCent

China’s OVercapaclty problem in sectors Of thetextile and apparel 1ndustry is showing nO signs Of goingaway anytime sOOn，and one reasOn for this is contlnuedlnvestment m new equlpment and plants January throughOctober cumulative fixed asset lnvestment in textiles andapparel reached 182.33 billiion yuan(24 bllIjon U S dollars)，which was up 3o 2 percent from last year’s record level

China tO Further PrOmoteopening Up，improve FOreignTrade NextYear

China is to funher promote the establishment of freetrade zones wlth Other coun仃ies and enhance bilateral andmu】cilateral ecOnOmic cooperatlon next yeat according tothe central economIc work COIlference which c1osed herc OnWednesday．

The three-day conference said China will tunrn a newpage in its openmg-up drive in 2oo8 by opening wider tO theoutside world，optlmizing the strucmrc Of the opened sectorsand lmproving the envlronment for foreign invcstors．

chlna Will try to develop new advantages while jOlnlngthe internatlonal ecOnOmic cooperation and cOmpetitiOnamld the COHrse Of globalization，the conference said．

It u rged felated departmcnts to step up thetransformation Of the ways of lncreasing foretgn trade，improve the strucnrc Of expOned goods，stick to the win-by—quality prinelple and enhance thelr capacity to cope wjthnuctuatlons in internatlonal markets.

It also advoc aIed to create new ways of utilizing foreignlnvesUnent and make better use Ofthe money

\"The dOmestlc work and the openlng-up drive shall beplanned ina coordinated way so that the country's economycan stand varlous challenges through various channels’theconference said.

DOmestic COtton Prices Remainoff SeasonaI Highs

China’s domestic COtton pnces have turncd sljghtlyweaker，with T328 delivered-the-mill prices falllng tO 13，5oo13，7oo yHail per tOn .Prices at warehOuses in XinjiangProvlDce contlnue to ho1d near the same level This weaknessin lint has occurrcd desp]te the recOrd prices of by-prOducts(cottonseed o11，cottonsetd meaI and 1mters)Lint cotton priceshave remalned substantially below thelr AugusI highs T328prices peaked at an average price of oVer 14，5oo yklan per tonin August befor。pIunging tO near 13，ooo yuan per ton shonlybeforc the OctOber Nattonal Day Ho1iday and haVe sincestabilized aI l 3，5oo to 13，7oo yuall per ton，delivercd Ihe mlllIhls is equivalent to 82 75 to 84 oo U S cents peo pound.