China's next 5-year plan to stress speedy IT development

Asian Economic News, Oct 23, 2000

BEIJING, Oct. 18 Kyodo

China's Communist Party released Wednesday a proposal by the Central Committee for the 10th five-year plan starting next year which attaches particular importance to speeding up the development of the information industry.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported the full text of the proposal which was approved at the fifth plenary session of the party's 15th central committee last week.

The proposal said the promotion of information technology (IT) is ''the key link to upgrading China's industrial structure and realizing industrialization and modernization.''

''Information technology should be used extensively in all circles of society and the use of computers and the Internet should be widespread,'' it said.

The proposal also said various kinds of information products and Internet services should be provided to consumers.

The proposal emphasized ''strenuous efforts to promote science and technological progress and innovation'' for overall national strength, saying the high-tech sectors are linked to national economic lifelines and state security.

It called for stepping up the development of the resource-rich western areas to promote coordinated development among different regions of the country.

It said more government funds will be channeled to the western region, which is populated by ethnic minorities.

The proposal pledged democratic elections and democratic policy-making must be implemented across the country to guarantee that citizens have ''far-ranging rights and freedom and to respect and protect human rights.''

The document also emphasized that national defense must be strengthened along with economic progress, saying new high-tech weapons would be developed to enhance the Chinese military's defense capabilities.

The 10th five-year plan is expected to be discussed and adopted by the National People's Congress next spring.