| Abstract | In 1999, officials estimated a seven percent growth in the Gross National Product (GNP), slightly less than the 1998 outturn of 7.8 percent. Dick Wilson sums up: "All in all it was an exciting year for China in spite of floods and loss-making industries. More of the modern economy has been put in place. If only cautious citizens would draw some savings out and spend, spend, spend." The Sino-American deal on the World Trade Organisation (WTO), towards the end of the year, was a historic milestone for it will strengthen the reformist lobby in the Chinese administration. |
|---|
