In spite of increasingly unsettling factors and the slow recovery of the global economy, China's economy has maintained vigorous development, which has attracted growing attention from the international community.
   
       China's fast economic development has made great contributions to the progress and prosperity of the global economy, and particularly to the stabilization and recovery of the world economy in recent years.Over the past 20-odd years since reform and opening-up, China's economy has maintained sustained and rapid development, with annual growth of GDP averaging 9.3 percent between 1978-2001. In 2002, the country's GDP exceeded 1,000 billion yuan, a rise of 8 percent on the previous year. Along with the rapid development of the national economy, China's poor population (with individual daily spending lower than USS1) has dropped by 147 million, or 84.5 percent of the total reduced poor population in East Asia. To date, China's population in abject poverty has declined to around 30 million. Poverty, a problem plaguing many countries worldwide, has seriously affected the steady and sustainable development of the global economy. The sustained and rapid development of China's economy and the continuous improvement in the Chinese people's living standards has made great contributions to the sustainable development and prosperity of mankind. According to the World Bank, in terms of stabilized prices, the rate of China's contribution to global economic growth was 14 percent between 1980-2000, against 20.7 percent of the United States and 7 percent of Japan. During the same period, the rate of China's contribution to global trade growth reached 4.7 percent, ranking third in the world following the United States (14.4 percent) and Japan (6.9 percent). The latest calculation of Morgan Stanley indicated that the rate of China's contribution to global economic development rose to 17.5 percent in 2002.
   
       China has become the most attractive commodity market in the world.China used to be a huge "potential market". Today, however, with the sustained and rapid development of its economy, China has become the most vigorous "available market" in the world. Numerous Chinese products have gone out to the world, while large quantities of foreign products have poured into China. Between 1990-2001, the annual growth of China's exports and imports reached 14.9 percent and 15.5 percent respectively, much higher than the respective global rates of 6.3 percent and 6.5 percent. The low-cost but good products exported by China have benefited many consumers worldwide, helping the consumers in the United States alone save USS 15 billion annually. Moreover, they help overseas purchasers lower their production cost, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of their products. The swift increase in China's imports has created numerous job opportunities for the world. The vigorous development of China's foreign trade has propelled the free circulation and optimized distribution of global resources.

       China has become the world's most favored investment destination.Due to global economic recession, developed countries now have surplus productive capacity and funds. China's rapid economic growth, gigantic domestic market and ever-improving investment environment have attracted many transitional companies that are seeking a way out. They have made investment in different parts of China, thereby sharing the results of the country's rapid economic growth. In 2002, China absorbed more than US$50 billion of overseas investment, coming first in the world. According to Fortune, more than 80 percent of the global top 500 companies had made investment in China by 2001, with the number of projects funded by them exceeding 2,000. It is worth noting that a growing number of Chinese companies have made their way into the world by making investment and setting up factories in various parts of the world. Though Chinese-funded businesses abroad are small in number, they have contributed to the economic development of the countries and regions in which they are located.
   
       China has become a main force promoting economic cooperation in Asia and economic recovery in East Asia.Since the 1990s, with the bursting of its bubble economy, Japan has undergone economic stagnation, which weakened its ability to support the economic growth in East Asia. The Asian financial crisis that broke out in 1997 hit East Asia's economy severely. China, as a responsible large country, tightened up its cooperation with the countries and regions in East Asia to help them get rid of their difficulties. China's swift economic growth provided them with a huge export market and promoted the recovery of East Asia's economy. According to statistics, the growth in exports from the main Southeast Asian countries to China increased by more than 100 percent between 1990-2000. In 2000, the Republic of Korea, ASEAN and China's Taiwan yielded US$12 billion, US$5 billion and US$20 billion respectively in surplus trade with China's mainland. China was not only the main source of surplus trade for East Asian countries and regions, but also a main destination of their overseas investment. In 2002, China replaced the United States as the largest investment destination of the Republic of Korea and Japan.
   
       In addition, China has adopted a series of correct macro-control policies, including the policy of expanding domestic demand and proactive fiscal and prudent monetary policies, to facilitate its rapid economic growth, which has provided some developing countries with valuable experiences and promoted in-depth study of development economics.
   
       China is still a developing country, and in respect to the global economy, its contributions and impact have remained limited. The praises that liken China to an "engine" or a "locomotive" of the regional economy serves to encourage the Chinese people to work even harder.