May 20, 2009, Lausanne, Switzerland, The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) officially released its 2009 Annual World Competitiveness Report. It is considered the leading annual report on the competitiveness of world economies and has been published since 1989. The influential report provides a reference for the formulation of government policies, business decision-making and academic research.

The China Research Center for Development Planning at SPPM, signed a memorandum of cooperation with IMD, to assume part of the data collection and analysis of evaluation for mainland China since 2008.

China has been performing quite well in a number of areas, notably in domestic economy, international trade, employment, public finance, labor market and scientific infrastructure.

Those areas in which China does not perform very well include international investment, business legislation, management practices, health and environment. A list of challenges that China faces in 2009, included further reform of the financial sector, coping with the complicated situation of the world economy, creating more employment opportunities for a growing labor force and enhancing the quality and efficiency of public investment in infrastructure.

Further information about the report can be found at http://www.imd.ch/research/publications/wcy/World-Competitiveness-Yearbook-Results.cfm