ABSTRACT
The current economic situation has demonstrated some positive impact of the expansionary policy directed to the domestic demand. The People’s Bank of China has twice lowered deposit and loan interest rates. It has also announced measures to improve financial services and to support national economic development. China’s exports will face even more difficult conditions. The major driving force for economic growth will still be domestic demand. In recent years, the weakening growth in consumer demand has obviously been an increasing restraint on the sustained healthy development of the economy. Assuming that the macroeconomic adjustment program is smoothly implemented, a preliminary estimate for 1999 is that the fixed asset investment will maintain a rather high rate of growth, approximately 13% higher than that of 1998, while the growth rate in exports could go up to about 3% compared to 1998.
