CHINA / Regional |
'Economy not to decline after Olympics'(Xinhua)Updated: 2007-05-19 17:04 Beijing's party chief said that the economy of the Chinese capital will not slow down after the 2008 Olympic Games as investment and consumption will continue to soar. "There may be less construction in the downtown Beijing, but new construction will boom in satellite cities after the Games," said Liu Qi, Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), at the city's 10the CPC Congress on Friday. Beijing's per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) will rise to 10,000 U.S. dollars after the Games from the current 6,000 U.S. dollars, which will greatly enhance people's consumption capability, Liu said. "Neither investment nor consumption will drop, thus the economy of Beijing will not decline in the post-Olympic period," said Liu. Some media have reported that a bubble economy is being witnessed in the Chinese capital which has poured huge investment in real estate and other Olympic-dependent industries, which will become unnecessary after the Games. Beijing is also blamed for the lack of renovation spirit, while some of its state-owned enterprises are still trapped in a sorry plight. Beijing's GDP grew at an average rate of 12.1 percent over the past five years. Its GDP totaled 772 billion yuan last year, and GDP per capita was 6,210 U.S. dollars. In the next five years, the municipal government will strive to score an average GDP growth rate of nine percent, according to Liu. The 2008 Olympic Games will also bring great opportunities for the city's tourism and exhibition industries, said Liu, citing Barcelona, the host city of the 1992 Olympic Games, whose number of tourists doubled after the Games. Beijing now attracts about 3.9 million overseas tourists each year. Liu, also president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games, vowed Beijing will go all out to make the 2008 Summer Olympic Games a big success. "The 2008 Summer Olympic Games is a top priority on the government work agenda for this year and next," he said. |
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