Some international financial institutions downgraded China's economic performance in 2009 to single-digit growth from its previous double-digit growth. The World Bank even projected as low as 7.5-percent GDP growth and attributed half of that growth to government-influenced spending.

But others have more optimistic views of China's role in driving world economic development. Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. said in a report that "China is our favorite BRIC (the fast-growing developing nations of Brazil, Russia, India, and China) until the global economic cycle turns." It predicts that China will account for 80 percent or more of global growth in 2009 because of its stimulus package, consumers who are not constrained by debt, cheaper valuations and stable currency.

President Hu Jintao said the Central Government has made the right decisions based on globalization and that opportunities for China's strategic development still exist and will not be reversed during the financial crisis. He pledged that the government would find new opportunities in years of hardship and minimize the negative impact of the crisis.

Policy Guidelines for 2009 - Active fiscal policy - Appropriately accommodative monetary policy - Flexible and prudent macro-control policy Policy Guidelines For 2008 - Prudent fiscal policy - Stringent monetary policy - Macro-control policy: Preventing the economy from overheating, and preventing headline inflation

Major Economic Tasks in 2009:

1. Strengthen and improve macro-control, apply an active fiscal policy and appropriately accommodative monetary policy

Public spending must be increased significantly to ensure construction expenditure in key areas as well as post-earthquake reconstruction. Taxes will be cut accordingly, while fiscal expenditures will be optimized. More supports will be given to "agriculture, rural areas and farmers," employment, social security, education, medical care, energy conservation and emission reduction, self-innovation, advanced manufacturing, the service industry, small and medium-sized enterprises, and major reforms in various fields. More funding and support must be given to subsidize low-income families. The government will maintain rational increases in money supply and credit loans, guide and improve market expectations while keeping the renminbi exchange rate at a stable and reasonable level, and further improve the international balance of payments. It also will keep the capital market and property market on a healthy and stable development track and strictly forbid redundant high-energy-consuming, highly polluting, low-level construction. It will optimize the effect of public investment and expand private investment fields and channels to jointly drive economic development.

2. Reinforce and develop the agricultural and rural economy to guarantee efficient agricultural product supplies and increase farmers' income

More attention must be paid to grain production and major agricultural product supply. Investments in "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" will be greatly increased. The current household land-contract responsibility system in rural areas should be retained as a long-term strategy, while land in rural areas can be transferred on a legal, voluntary and paid-use basis. But the collective ownership of land cannot be changed. Any problems stemming from migrant workers' employment and income must be resolved efficiently, while more jobs must be created for rural laborers.

3. Speed up the transformation of the country's economic development model and advance strategic adjustments in the economic structure

Even though we face enormous pressure to maintain stable economic growth, the ultimate goals of transforming the economic development model and carrying on economic structural reform should not be neglected. Increasing people's incomes and expanding consumption must be at the top of the government's agenda. The government will optimize the industrial structure with improved self-innovation and balanced development in three industries. Rural and urban structures should be reformed in the wake of urbanization, and coordinated social and economic development in rural and urban areas should be improved. Regional gaps must be bridged and productivity should be optimized. The government will support efforts to improve energy conservation, water and land conservation, material conservation and integrated resource exploration.

4. Deepen the reform and opening up, and perfect systems and mechanisms conducive to the Scientific Outlook on Development