A labourer works at a demolished housing area in Haikou, southern China's Hainan province, September 25, 2006. [Reuters]

China has slipped six places to 54th in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) global competitiveness rankings, a report said yesterday.

Due to cautious macro-economic management, China is enjoying buoyant growth rates, low inflation, one of the highest savings rates in the world, and manageable levels of public debt, the WEF's Global Competitiveness Report (2006-07) said.

However, a number of structural weaknesses need to be addressed, including those in the largely State-controlled banking sector, the report warned.

China also has low penetration rates for technologies such as the Internet and personal computers, and itssecondary and tertiary schoolenrolment rates are still low by international standards.

China also needs to improve environmental qualities of various institutions both private and public, said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist and Director of the WEF's Global Competitiveness Network.

Switzerland, Finland and Sweden are the world's most competitive economies, according to the report. Denmark, Singapore, the United States, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom complete the top 10 list. The biggest faller is the United States, dropping from first to sixth.

The rankings are drawn from a combination of publicly available hard data and the results of a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the WEF among 125 economies worldwide.

"By providing detailed assessments of the economic conditions of nations worldwide, the report offers policy-makers and business leaders an important tool in the formulation of improved economic policies and institutional reforms," said Klaus Schwab, the WEF Founder and Executive Chairman.

(Agencies)

据9月27日消息，世界经济论坛公布最新全球竞争力排名，中国的经济竞争力下滑6个榜位，目前名列第54位。

世界经济论坛发布的《2006-2007全球竞争力报告》中提到，由于中国实行谨慎的宏观经济调控政策，经济发展一直保持着高增长、低通胀的势头；同时，中国是全球储蓄率最高的国家之一，国债可管理水平也位居世界前列。

报告中说，但是目前中国包括国有控股银行在内的一些行业还存在着很多亟需解决的经济结构问题。

此外，我国的科技渗透率（包括互联网、电脑等）较低，中学和大学的入学率仍然低于国际标准。

世界经济论坛全球竞争力网络总裁兼首席经济学家奥古斯托·洛佩兹-克拉罗斯说，中国还需要改善公共机构和私人机构的环境质量。

报告显示，瑞典、芬兰和瑞士位居全球竞争力排行榜前三位，位于前十名的其它几位依次是新加坡、美国、日本、德国、荷兰和英国。美国的竞争力排名下滑幅度最大，从第一位下滑到第六位。

全球竞争力排名是综合官方公布的硬数据和世界经济论坛对125个经济体所做的年度综合调查得来的。

世界经济论坛建立者和执行主席克劳斯·施瓦布说："全球竞争力报告对世界各国经济状况进行了详细评估，这为政策制订者和商界领导们完善经济政策和进行机构改革提供了重要依据。"

(英语点津姗姗编辑)

Vocabulary:

secondaryandtertiary school:中学和大学