Beijing unlikely to see major economic fluctuations after Olympics
Updated: 2008-03-08 09:37
Beijing is unlikely to see major economic fluctuations after the August Olympic Games, a local economic planner said on Friday, citing that investment in fixed assets will continue to grow.
"The municipal government has already laid out new projects, which is expected to bring huge demand for investment when the Games is over," said Zhang Gong, director of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission.
Zhang made the remarks on the sideline of the annual session of the top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), which started on March 5 and is scheduled to end on March 18.
Construction of new boom towns in the city's outer areas, new subway lines and a new airport will shore up the steady growth of investment and economy, the NPC deputy said.
"As a metropolitan with a big population and huge market demand in a developing country, Beijing is unlikely to see a 'valley effect' or major fluctuations in its economy," said Zhang.
In addition to big projects, the economic construction will be shifted to the city's infrastructure, environment protection and water resources conservation in the future, Wang Haiping, deputy director of Zhang's commission said in early January.
"Beijing will still gain momentum in investment after the Games," he said.
Wang said that the fixed asset investment of Beijing is expected to reach 430 billion yuan (US$60.56 billion) this year, indicating an annual growth of 11 percent.
The World Bank's new chief economist Justin Yifu Lin also said he believes that China will not face recession caused by investment declines after the Games, as the volume of Chinese economy is much larger than some Olympic hosts that experienced post-Games recession.
There will be plenty of investment prospects in the fields of infrastructure and industrial upgrading, while the consumption growth and foreign investment will remain at high level, said Lin, citing the World Expo and the Asian Games China will host in 2010 and a few other important international events after the Olympics.
Beijing scored an annual 12 percent economic growth in the past five years, increasing its gross domestic product (GDP) from 433 billion yuan in 2002 to 900 billion yuan in 2007.
The Chinese capital has planned its economy to grow by 9 percent per year in the next five years.
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