Home | China | World | Business China Issues Quotas to Help Enterprises TUE, FEB 26, 2002     The State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) has proposed a set of targets for the country's major industries in 2002, according to Tuesday's China Daily. In what appeared to be the first "guiding quotas" made public this year, the SETC said China aims to achieve coal production of 1.05 billion tons, with steel output of 125 million tons and cement turnout of 590 million tons. None of the quotas are mandatory unlike those usually set by the commission during the planned-economy period. They are actually government projections meant to help enterprises better understand market demands and increase their chances of making a profit, said Zhang Min, a division director of the commission's Economic Operations Bureau. "All the proposed quotas are based on the commission's analysis of domestic and international markets while taking into account the problems that emerge after China joins the World Trade Organization (WTO)," he said. If enterprises produce coal, steel, cement and other products beyond the proposed limits, market supply and demand may be affected and enterprises may risk losing money, Zhang said. Considering the impact of the country's WTO entry on the metallurgical sector, the commission has reduced steel output by 24 million tons from that in 2001. Analysts said more steel is bound to come to China this year since WTO rules call for canceled quota limits on imports and slashed tariffs. The commission also expects a slightly lower coal output for 2002, but it apparently has hopes of exporting more this year. Editor:Zhong Source:Xinhua Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved