A senior cabinet member supervising national economy said here Wednesday morning that China gained 9.9 percent economic growth in the first three quarters of this year.
Zhang Ping, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), reported the implementation of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) on national economy and social development to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).
The growth rate in the past two years averaged 11.8 percent, higher than what the government expects in the plan. Since 2006, the country has created 30.28 million jobs, or 67 percent of the target set by the five-year plan, Zhang said.
The consumer price in the past two years increased by 3.1 percent annually, which was deemed as a stable level, Zhang said.
Employment in the service sector increased by one percentage point in the past two years, which was a little slower than the government plan, Zhang said.
The ratio of research and development expenditures in the gross domestic product (GDP) in the past two years increased by 0.15 percentage point, lower than the planned goal of expanding by about 0.13 percentage point each year.
By the end of 2007, Zhang said, the Chinese population grew by 0.52 percent annually to more than 1.32 billion, he said.
Up to last June, the basic urban pension system had covered 210million residents, 73 percent of the plan, Zhang said.
Summarized the economic operation in the past two years, Zhang said the agriculture has been strengthened, industrial structure upgraded, regional development coordinated, energy efficiency and emission reduction pushed forward, innovation encouraged, restructuring and deregulation deepened, and social benefits emphasized.