Extracts.
Chi Haotian Meets DPRK People's Armed Forces Minister
Visiting Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian on
Sunday held talks with Kim Il Chol, the People's
Armed Forces minister of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Pyongyang.
Chi said that the a deep friendship has been forged
between the Chinese people and the Korean people and
between the armies of the two countries during their
joint long-term struggle against foreign aggressions.
Chi, also vice chairman of the Central Military
Commission of China, is a veteran during the War to
Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953). He
arrived here Sunday morning for a five-day official
visit.
Chi noted that the friendly traditional relationship
of cooperation between China and the DPRK has entered
a new stage of development under the solicitude of
Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the Chinese
Communist Party, and Kim Jong Il, general secretary
of the Workers' Party of the DPRK.
Terming the relationship between the two armies as "a
vital part" of bilateral relations, he said, the two
armies have been maintaining close contacts at all
levels.
Chi stressed that the two countries should earnestly
carry out common understandings reached by their
leaders and continuously push forward the good
relationship between the two countries and the two
armies.
China has all along commit itself to peace and
stability on the Korean Peninsular and support the
improvement of relations between the North and the
South of the peninsular and an independent and
peaceful reunification of the two sides without
foreign interference, he said.
He added that the issue of the peninsular should be
eventually resolved through dialogues and
consultations between the North and the South.
For his part, Kim Il Chol said that the DPRK is very
glad to receive the high-level Chinese military
delegation led by Chi on the occasion of the 50th
anniversary of Chinese People's Volunteers' entering
the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.
The visit shows that China highly values its friendly
relationship with the DPRK, Kim Il Chol said.
He also briefed Chi on the situation on the Korean
Peninsular, the relationship between the North and
the South and the DPRK's domestic situation, and
reiterated the DPRK's objection to the missile
defense system being developed by the United States.
****
President Jiang Meets French President Chirac
Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with
French President Jacques Rene Chirac
Saturday in Yangzhou. The two heads of
state had an extensive and in-depth
exchange of views on bilateral ties and
major international issues of mutual
concern.
Amidst a friendly atmosphere, Jiang and Chirac
reached important consensus, according to a spokesman
with China's Foreign Ministry.
Jiang said in the meeting that the Chinese government
has always attached importance to Sino-French
relations and believed that the two sides should
consider and handle issues related to bilateral ties
with "strategic perspectives" and proceeding from
"long-term and fundamental interests of the two
countries," as the spokesman put it.
Chirac agreed with Jiang's comments. The two sides
agreed that it is necessary for China and France to
strengthen consultation and coordination on major
international issues under the current complicated
and changeable international situation so as to push
forward the Sino-French comprehensive cooperative
partnership well into the 21st century.
Chirac briefed Jiang on the just-closed Third
Asia-Europe Meeting held in Seoul and the development
of European construction in recent years.
Chirac and his party left here for Beijing this
afternoon. He is scheduled to begin his official
visit to China tomorrow and attend the third China-EU
summit as President of the European Council.
****
China's Revenue to Top 5 Trillion Yuan in Ninth
5-Year Plan Period
The fiscal revenue of China will surpass five
trillion yuan (602 billion U.S. dollars) in the ninth
five-year plan period (1996-2000), a government
spokesman said Tuesday.
The figure will more than double that for the
1991-1995 period to represent an average annual
growth rate of 14 percent, said Wang Jun, spokesman
for the Ministry of Finance, at a press conference
sponsored by the State Council's Information Office.
According to Wang, the ratio of the fiscal revenue to
gross domestic product (GDP) rose from 10.7 percent
in 1995 to 13.9 percent in 1999, and is expected to
top 14.5 percent this year, reversing the successive
decline before 1996.
China has further improved the structure of its
fiscal expenditures with more money put in
infrastructure and social security since it began to
implement the ninth five-year plan in 1996.
Government fiscal spending is expected to grow at an
average annual rate of more than 16 percent in the
five years ending this year, Wang said.
According to him, the Ministry of Finance will focus
on four important tasks in the tenth five-year plan
from 2001 to 2005.
The first task is to give full play to the fiscal
policies and tax leverages to guide and promote
economic restructuring and ensure a stable growth in
the nation's fiscal revenue and economy.
The second is to deepen the reform of the fiscal and
taxation system in line with the requirements for
China's accession to the World Trade Organization for
the step-by-step establishment of the framework of a
public fiscal system.
The third is to strengthen the management and
collecting of taxes so as to gradually expand the
share of fiscal revenue in GDP and the share of the
central revenue in the nation's total revenue.
The fourth task is to strengthen expenditure
management so as to guarantee input in such sectors
as agriculture, education, science and social
security.
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