THE Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) decision to go full steam ahead with economic reforms in spite of fears over inflation and international trade sanctions is an encouraging sign of China's bullishness about the future.
Key to that bullishness is the decision of the just-ended plenum of the party's policy-making Central Committee to revise upward the economic growth forecasts contained in its eighth Five-Year Plan which expires in 1995.
Although the Central Committee stopped short of setting a specific target, Chinese officials believe that instead of six per cent, a more realistic growth rate is eight or nine per cent for the rest of the decade. In line with this, the Central Committee feels the regions should be given more say in pursuing their own development strategies and want bureaucratic red tape streamlined.
If CCP leaders seem to be in a rush to accelerate economic reforms, the inspiration is Mr Deng Xiaoping. It was Mr Deng who recently issued instructions ''not to lose the opportunity'' of a lifetime in pushing for reforms. As a result, his followers have put aside concerns expressed by central planners that the pace of reform and development should be slowed so that the party can better tackle the problems of an overheated economy.
While many might applaud the victory of the Dengists, there is merit in asking whether the party and the government can accomplish the stated aim of high-speed growth without weighing the risks of fuelling inflation or the impact possible trade sanctions might have.
The plenum pointed out that accelerating economic reforms must be predicated upon raising the quality of the country's products, rationalising the economic structure, and boosting efficiency. Whether these preconditions can be met depends on how far theCommunist Party is prepared to go in adopting market mechanisms.