de, including trade with Taiwan (which became over time a major source of investment capital for the PRC) also characterized the 1980s and 1990s (Spence, 19990).
Observers, including He (2003), noted that the gradual and ongoing shift from the centrally planned economy to a market system has resulted in fast and continuous growth. While transforming itself from a largely agrarian economic base to one emphasizing industry, manufacturing, and entrepreneurial trade, China has enjoyed growth rates of as much as 9.5 percent in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) in recent years (National Bureau of Statistics China, 2005).
Macroeconomic regulatory improvements are see by CPC member and bureaucrat Li Deshui (2005) as leading to significant GDP improvements as well as a favorable turn for agricultural production, stable and rapid industrial production growth, continuous improvement in enterprise efficiency, brisk consumer markets, and corresponding increases in urban and rural household income. China's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) has certainly worked to its advantage and has simultaneously necessitated quite significant changes in many of China's regulatory mechanisms (He, 2005).
Various Chinese government representatives have affirmed enthusiasm for current market shifts and restructuring activities. At the same time, moves to tamper excessive growth are in conformity with the central government's new development strategy which stresses concerted and sustainable development (China taking down-to-earthà, 2005). The official Chinese government news organ, Xinhua News Agency, quoted Xhou Liquin, the head of the economic institute at Nankai University as stating that a historic shift
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