TNAG-2714-FCO40-3920-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 42

14-JUL-1993 16:31

JAMES LEE

8494536249 P.10

TRANSCRIPT B MR. ALASTAIR GOODLAD FOREIGN AFFAIRS SELECT

COMMITTEE 14 JULY 1993

9

The Chinese economy is at the moment in a kind of half-way house.

It is no longer a fully centralised, planned, command economy of the old kind nor yet has it so far developed into a recognisable

market economy

the system maintains elements of both. The

government, I think, are determined not to try to rely exclusively on the old style administrative means of bringing the economy under control; they are determined to use, to the extent that

they can, the market mechanisms which are available to them. The

question is whether a combination of those two will work but what

is very clear and it was a point that the Party General

Secretary, Mr. Jiang Zemin, made to the Foreign Secretary when he

was in Peking last week is that the Chinese are determined to

continue with the economic reform process; they are not

abandoning the goal of trying to achieve a socialist market

economy. We will have a bumpy ride, I think, over the next six

months or so but like the Minister, I am confident that in due

course the economic reform process will continue and that the very rapid rate of growth will resume after perhaps the current

hiccough is over so I think British business is absolutely right to continue to devote itself with enthusiasm to the prospects

which are available in this market even if they have got to tread

a little bit carefully and make sure that they are prudent in evaluating specific opportunities that come their way.