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30 year reforms transform China, but not politics
By SCOTT McDONALD,Associated Press Writer AP - 2 hours 56 minutes ago
BEIJING - Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao, speaking in the same hall where his predecessors launched a free-market revolution 30 years ago, urged more economic reform Thursday but said it would not lead to Western-style democracy.
Economic reforms have brought China unprecedented prosperity, making it the fourth-largest economy in the world, but they have not led to an opening up of its authoritarian political system, as many Western observers and some Chinese had hoped.
In fact, the Communist Party now views economic growth as a key component to maintaining public support for its one-party rule.
In a 90-minute, nationally televised address during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the reforms, Hu credited "socialism with Chinese characteristics" for the country's success _ a catchphrase for jettisoning the centrally planned economy while maintaining strict authoritarian rule.
"We need to draw on the beneficial fruits of mankind's political achievements, but we will never copy the model of the Western political system," he said.
Hu entered the Great Hall of the People _ the seat of the country's legislature in the heart of the Chinese capital _ at the head of a line of China's top communist leaders. More than 6,000 party leaders and military officials politely applauded throughout his remarks laced with Marxist rhetoric. "The Internationale," the anthem of socialism worldwide, was played at the end.
The Great Hall was the site of a Communist Party gathering on Dec. 18, 1978, that endorsed small-scale private farming, the first step toward dumping the late leader Mao Zedong's vision of communal agriculture and industry.
The mastermind of the changes, Deng Xiaoping, declared: "We must learn to manage the economy by economic means" _ calling for pragmatism to trump communist ideology.
China's economy now trails only the United States, Japan and Germany. Along with private enterprise and capital markets have come greater prosperity than ever before.
Annual per capita income has soared to about 19,000 yuan ($2,760) last year, up from just 380 yuan ($55) in 1978. Virtually all Chinese families now have at least one television and, in the cities, a washing machine _ rare items three decades ago. Some 15 million families own private cars, and many Chinese also own their own homes.
"Nowadays, we worry instead about eating too well rather than not eating enough," says Guo Linchun, 78, a retired music teacher in Beijing. "Now, living standards have improved so much, we see not only televisions. So many people even own cars."
The reforms have turned China into the world's factory floor, producing everything from simple toys and Nike sneakers to advanced computers and cars. But the modern industries have brought many modern ills: pollution, industrial accidents and product safety scandals.
China's heavy reliance on exports and foreign investment also ensures that the uncertainties now afflicting the global economy are haunting the Chinese as well. But Hu said China needed to firmly focus on economic development to weather the current crisis.
"Standing still and regressing will lead only to a dead end," he said.
Despite the dramatic economic changes, China's political system remains firmly in the control of the party, although calls for greater freedoms persist. Earlier this month, more than 300 lawyers, writers, scholars and artists circulated a public appeal, dubbed "Charter 08," urging the party to loosen its 60-year monopoly on power and allow democratic reforms.
The government appears to have responded with a firm hand. One Chinese writer who signed the charter remains missing more than a week after police took him away, and more than three dozen others have reported harassment, according to the group Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
But as growth slows, job losses threaten to fuel political unrest _ one of the major worries of the party, especially if dissatisfaction spreads to the middle class. Authorities have slashed interest rates and promised to spend more than half a trillion dollars to stimulate the economy.
Social stability, or what Hu calls a harmonious society, has been a major theme of his rule, amid worries that many in rural areas have missed out on China's economic boom.
___
Associated Press writer Elaine Kurtenbach in Shanghai contributed to this report.
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