CHINA SAYS FOREIGN DEBT RISING, LEVEL NOT DANGEROUS
A Chinese leader said the country's
foreign debt was rising but the level was not dangerous and
China valued its good credit rating in the world.
    Vice-Premier Tian Jiyun told a news conference for foreign
journalists the debt, including foreign investment, was 20.6
billion dlrs at end-1986, of which 7.6 billion were in
long-term, low-interest loans.
    "Considering the national economic strength of China and the
scale of its imports and exports, this level of foreign debt
can be sustained by China now and has not developed to a
dangerous point," he said.
    Finance Minister Wang Bingqian said in the budget speech on
Thursday that foreign borrowings in 1987 would be almost double
the 1986 level and nearly six times the 1985 amount.
    Under Chairman Mao Tse-tung's rule from 1949-1976, China
borrowed very little abroad, insisting that nearly all
development be financed from the country's own resources.
    Tian took the opposite view. "It is not enough for us to
rely totally on our own funds and capital (to achieve its
modernisation). We have to have the courageous spirit to borrow
a certain amount of foreign loans," he said.
    He said China must not borrow too much and no more than it
can repay. "China has good credit in terms of foreign borrowing
and we value this good credit," he said.
    Vice Premier Yao Yilin, a former Commerce Minister, told
the same news conference some people said China's foreign debt
was already too much and others said China could increase the
amount.
    "They proceed from their own perspectives to make such
remarks. We must always be clear-headed when we analyse the
situation," he said.
 REUTER
