ヾ(゜Д゜)ノ"英字新聞

Can Beijing grow at 8% and prick housing bubble?
The Chinese government faces a difficult balancing act this year as it aims to pursue continued fast growth without overheating the economy.
At the annual meeting of the National People's Congress--China's parliament--which opened Friday, the country's leaders said they will target growth of 8 percent in this year's gross domestic product.
Beijing also said it will create more than 9 million jobs to hold unemployment at under 4.6 percent while pegging consumer price rises at about 3 percent. These figures apparently are considered necessary to maintain social stability across the nation.
To achieve these targets, China is planning to continue with a large-scale public spending package this year and to maintain a relaxed monetary policy in principle.
China achieved high economic growth of 8.7 percent last year while all of the developed economies were badly hit by the global economic crisis that began in autumn 2008.
Beijing probably will be able to achieve its goal of 8 percent growth this year by continuing its aggressive economic stimulus measures.
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Property bubble growing
China looks set to replace Japan sometime this year as the world's second-largest economy after the United States, based on total GDP. Beijing should take heed of that and manage its economy in an appropriate manner.
However, the Achilles' heel of the powerful Chinese economy is a property bubble covering the entire country. So-called "hot money"--speculative funds from Chinese living overseas--is greatly inflating house prices.
In big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, prices of condominiums and other real estate have soared to a level ordinary citizens will never be able to afford. Unwilling to give up on their dreams of owning their own house, they have grown deeply frustrated with the situation.
To deflate the bubble economy, it is necessary to squeeze credit to a certain extent and restrict speculative purchasing of property. However, if such measures are applied too strictly, the economy might contract. It is very difficult to achieve growth while pricking the property bubble.
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Rural poor must be assisted
Redressing the economic disparity between urban residents and rural farmers remains a significant task to be addressed.
China said at the legislature meeting it will spend more than 800 billion yuan on developing agricultural infrastructure to improve the situations across the agricultural sector and in farming villages, and of farmers.
This move also is apparently aimed at improving the nation's agricultural production capacity and increasing the incomes of farmers.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that before the opening of the congress meeting, 13 newspapers around the country carried a joint editorial calling for the reform of the nation's household registration system. They said the government should introduce reforms to tackle discriminatory residency rules that give farmers who come to cities seeking work fewer rights than the original residents of such cities.
Because each citizen's residency status is strictly tied to their hometown, the system has resulted in more than 100 million migrant workers and their families from farming regions being treated in unfair ways, including being denied social welfare coverage in their adopted cities. Beijing must tackle this problem head on to ensure stability across the nation.