China's efforts to slow down the economy by reining in investment in industries such as steel and cement are working, Vice-Premier Huang Ju said Sunday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the first World Industrial and Commercial Organizations Summit (WICO Summit), Huang said: "The macroeconomic measures that were adopted last year are showing incremental success and ease prominent contradictions that have affected China's economic development."

The summit, initiated by the China Federation of Industrial Economics, is expected to be a platform for world industrial and commercial organizations (ICOs) to exchange ideas.

China has tightened land and credit approvals to cool an industrial investment spree that causes power shortages, clogs transport links and drives up raw materials prices.

Investment in China's factories, roads and other fixed assets grew 26 percent in August, slowing from 31.1 percent for the first seven months of the year, according to official data released last week.

China's economy is still growing at a "steady and fast" pace and should continue to expand at an annual 7 percent rate for the next few years, Huang said.

The nation's gross domestic product grew by 9.7 percent in the first half of the year.

And an open and growing China will benefit all, said the vice-premier.

"China's continued reform and opening-up and sustained economic growth will not only benefit the 1.3 billion Chinese people, but also create a bigger space for international trade and investment, lending a strong momentum to the common development of all nations," the vice premier said.

The nation will continue welcoming foreign investors, Huang added.

Commenting on the role of ICOs, Huang said they are an important link to bridge enterprises and governments and are conducive to promoting the multilateral trade system and strengthening co-operation among enterprises in different countries and regions.

He also said that China will accelerate legislation on ICOs to clarify their legal status to best utilize their roles of working on industrial standards, promoting international exchanges and mediating over trade friction.

Delegates from more than 70 countries and regions hailed the WICO Summit, hoping to regularize it as a permanent channel for multilateral dialogue.

This dialogue channel will be all the more important as the world economy is recovering and the once-deadlocked Doha Development Agenda of the World Trade Organization comes back on the right track, said Dan Christman, senior vice-president of the United States Chamber of Commerce.

He also said his chamber of commerce has an interest in hosting the second WICO summit in order to keep the ball rolling.

(China Daily September 20, 2004)