(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-23 07:18

The nation has achieved 69.05 percent of what it entails to be an all-round well-off society by the end of 2006, says the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest report.

Even if we are still where we were almost 11 month ago, which is out of the question, given the projected 11.5 per cent growth in gross domestic product, the other 30 percent or so will be well within reach - after all, we still have 13 years ahead. The NBS' observation of an accelerating pace lends additional credibility to such anticipation.

We have confidence in accomplishing the goal set for 2020 also because our economy has shown impressive potentials to outperform expectations. It has repeatedly defied pessimistic assumptions and predictions with solid figures.

But facing us is a task far more complicated than simple math. It is not just accomplishing a little more than 2 percentage points of what was left.

To us, the more significant message in the NBS report is the judgment that we have not advanced equally fast in all areas. The most problematic aspects, according to the report, include energy consumption for per unit of GDP, coverage of basic social security, per capita disposable income, per capita GDP, and the proportion of inputs into research and development in GDP. Each of them has great impacts on the health of the economy, as well as the quality of our lives.

The trickier part of the solutions is that some of the problems the NBS has identified require a comprehensive reshuffle of what local development planners have taken for granted, and even relied on for favor from their superiors.

The central government's calls for cooling down the economic locomotive have fallen on deaf ears in part because lower growth may deprive local officials of a core source of merits to decorate their performance reports.

In a sense, the rest of our journey toward our national dream of a comfortable life for all will prove more challenging than what we have been through. Its accomplishment rests on our capability of identifying and coordinating immediate and long-term interests.

(China Daily 11/23/2007 page10)