World Bank official impressed by macro-economic improvements China

Jean-Michel Severino, the World Bank's Vice President of East Asia and the Pacific region, has said that he is deeply impressed by China's rapid economic progress and is satisfied with its use of the World Bank resources. It has kept inflation to well below 10 % while maintaining a high economic growth rate and building up foreign exchange reserves, he noted. "China's strong macro-economic situation and its successful 'soft landing' were the result of the significant improvements that have been made in recent years in macro-economic policies and management," he said.
Severino met recently with Chinese Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji and other officials and inspected World Bank-supported projects in Shanghai and east China's Jiangxi Province. After these visits he said that the macro-economic policies of the Chinese government in the recent years were correct and effective and that the co-operation with the World Bank has been fruitful. He pointed out that China will remain the Bank's largest borrowerin the coming years, and that annual lending to China will remain about $ 3 bn. It will be used for up to 15 projects each year, with priority given to agriculture, rural development, infrastructure, human resource development, poverty alleviation and environmental improvement.
Since the early 1980s, the World Bank has supported 176 development and technical assistance projects in most economic sectors and in almost all parts of China for a total of more than $ 26 bn, according to Bank statistics. China has been the Bank's largest borrower since 1993.