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2ND LD: China to set 8% growth target for 2006+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)BEIJING, March 5_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATING THROUGHOUT AND INCORPORATING SEPARATE DISPATCH SLUGGED CHINA-CONGRESS-ECONOMY) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will set an economic growth target of "around 8 percent" in 2006, down from the brisk 9.9 percent expansion recorded in 2005, when the country's legislative meeting opens Sunday, Chinese sources said late Saturday. In the annual work report to be delivered to the National People's Congress, Wen will also unveil a plan to achieve an average of 7.5 percent growth in the country's gross domestic product over the next five years, according to the sources. The NPC will open Sunday morning for an annual session that will run through March 14. The 8 percent growth target for 2006 will be set at a time when the government is trying to tame the pace of economic expansion to a more sustainable level. The 9.9 percent growth in 2005 marked a slight easing from the double-digit expansion in the previous years. The economic plan for 2006 outlined in the work report will also include a target to tame the consumer price index to 3 percent and the country's unemployment to 4.6 percent, according to the sources. Wen will also address the nation's exchange rate mechanism in the work report, saying that China will aim at maintaining "basic stability" at the "rational and balanced" exchange rate level, the sources said. China revalued the yuan by about 2 percent last July, and linked it to a basket of foreign currencies rather than only pegging it to the U.S. dollar. Beijing, however, is still under pressure to take measures to further loosen its grip on the yuan. The work report will also outline China's 11th five-year plan that runs through 2010, whose targets will be to achieve the yearly average of 7.5 percent economic growth as well as the doubling of the per capita GDP from its level in 2000 by 2010, the sources said. Beijing will also renew its resolve to prevent Taiwan's independence in the work report, saying it will "never compromise" in its opposition to Taiwanese forces seeking a permanent separation from the mainland, according to the sources. Beijing has recently blasted Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian for terminating the functions of a council for promoting unification, calling it a provocation that harms cross-strait ties. China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since their split at the end of the civil war in 1949 and warns of war if the island formally declares statehood. Earlier in the day, the NPC spokesman announced China's plan to boost its defense spending by 14.7 percent from a year earlier in 2006, marking the 18th straight year of double-digit growth of the military budget. The increase will bring the spending to 283.8 billion yuan ($35.3 billion), Jiang Enzhu told a press conference held on the eve of the country's annual legislative session. The funds will be used to raise troop wages, train personnel, upgrade the country's defense capacity and buy fuel in the face of a major rise in oil prices, Jiang said. "In recent years, China's defense spending has increased along with its economic development," Jiang said, defending the boost in the military budget. "The level of China's military spending is low when compared to some other countries, not only in terms of absolute value but also in terms of the proportions defense budgets occupy in the nation's gross domestic product and the entire budget," Jiang said. Countries such as the United States, France and Germany allocate a larger portion of their budgets to the military than China, Jiang said. Some governments are calling on Beijing to boost transparency in its military spending, which analysts say could be two or three times more than the declared figure. Among the complaints raised by critics is the omission of certain funds, such as money spent on civilians who help the military and some military research. Other experts say China should let others know more about what it is spending the money on. "I think the bigger problem is that other countries cannot see the direction China is moving toward because there is a lack of transparency about the types of equipment it is acquiring," said a Western military source in Beijing. "That is more bothering than the budget growth rate." Security, meanwhile, was stepped up in the Chinese capital as the legislative season began Friday with a meeting of China's top political advisers. Dozens of activists helping antigovernment petitioners have been detained in recent days, supporters of the petitioners said. Ni Yulan, a 46-year-old former lawyer, and her husband were believed to be among those who have been detained. A member of her family told Kyodo News the couple's whereabouts are unknown. "I can't reach them through their mobile phones, and I'm sure they have been detained," the family member said. Ni has in the past been put under house arrest during the legislative season. |