GUANGDONG’S economy will surpass Southeast Asian countries in three to five years and the four “Asian Dragons” within a decade, Governor Lu Ruihua said.

　　“Ten years ago, we laid down the target of catching up with the four Asian Dragons,” Lu was quoted as saying by the Nanfang Daily Friday. He was referring to the economies of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.

　　“We have achieved some success earlier than expected. We can certainly catch up with the Asian Dragons if we can maintain an annual growth rate of 8 to 9 percent over the next 10 years.”

　　Lu’s comments to university students in Guangzhou Thursday follow his prediction in June that Guangdong’s export growth would help its economy pass Hong Kong within the next few years.

　　The target of catching the Asian Dragons was set by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping when he made a historic tour to southern China in the early 1990s.

　　Although Guangdong was one of China’s richest provinces, Lu said it still had 880,000 children whose families were too poor to send them to school.

　　“Our education development in cities has grown very fast,” he said. “But it is still no easy task for children in impoverished villages to go to school.”(SD-Agencies)