Towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Chinese experts are weighing the previous years' achievements and development opportunities in the country.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government has successfully grasped and utilized the important period of strategic opportunities for development in the first 10 years of this century, and had accomplished world-recognized achievements, said Zheng Bijian, political scientist and former vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

In 2000, China's gross domestic product (GDP) was 9 trillion yuan (US$1.35 trillion). In 2009, the country's GDP reached 33.5 trillion yuan, far beyond the goal set at the CPC's 15th National Congress in 1997, which proposed doubling the GDP from its 2000 range within the first decade of the 21 century.

Within the first 10 years of this century, China also successfully handled difficulties, such as the outbreak of the illness known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), major earthquakes in Sichuan and Qinghai as well as the global financial crisis.

Moreover, the country has seen brilliant feats, including the construction of the Three Gorges hydro-power project on the Yangtze River, the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, hosting the Beijing Olympic Games, and breakthroughs in aerospace research.

China's achievements have proven that the judgments and plans made by the CPC over the past 10 years were proper and correct, Zheng said.

Additionally, China's joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) was among the important opportunities in the new century. China has seized this opportunity and used it to boost the country's reform and opening up as well as its efforts in globalization, said Hu Angang, director of the Center for China Studies, a top think tank for policy-making under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University.

Experts are also optimistic about China's future development.

During a recent trade fair for medium- and small-sized enterprises in China and the United States held in Zhejiang Province in November, entrepreneurs reached more than 140 agreements in trade and investments, amounting to over 1.5 billion U.S. dollar.

The common willingness to strengthen cooperation and joint efforts for development is growing among the international community, said Long Guoqiang, researcher with the State Council's Development Research Center.

Also, more countries are making efforts in the transformation of their development pattern.

Moreover, the global economic system is adjusting towards a more fair, orderly and inclusive one, and all these factors indicate that the external environment favorable for China's further development remains unchanged, Long said.

From an internal perspective, China is accelerating its industrialization and urbanization. Also, China still has advantages in funds, technologies, infrastructures and human resources.

Furthermore, its stable and harmonious social situation has guaranteed the country's further development.

The major internal elements supporting China's development also remain intact, which have indicated that the economy will develop positively in the long term, said Li Junru, well-known theorist and former vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

At the same time, experts also pointed out some existing problems to be dealt with in China's future development, such as the less-advanced economic growth pattern, the bottleneck of resources and the environment, and the imbalance of the development among urban and rural areas.

To address these problems, Zheng Bijian called for pushing forward the strategic adjustment of the economic structure, more progress and innovation in technology, and balanced efforts to promote the development of both the economy and society.

Zheng also suggested more measures to build an energy-saving and environmentally-friendly society.

According to statistics from the World Bank, China's economic growth rate is the highest among the G20 countries, and China's economy suffered the least turbulence during the period from 2001 to 2008.

In 2009, China contributed over 50 percent to global economic growth.

China's rapid development has also presented a great opportunity, but not a threat, to the world, Hu Angang said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2010)