Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Holiday Gift Guide
Gift ideas & reviews for this holiday season
Start Browsing
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
You Witness News
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
China's President Hu urges growth and stability
Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:28am EST
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Simon Rabinovitch
BEIJING (Reuters) - China must focus on economic growth and social stability in the face of a global slump, President Hu Jintao said on Thursday, vowing a stronger state role in steering market reforms.
In a speech celebrating 30 years of reform policies, Hu also said his government's efforts to counter the global economic downturn were working and he renewed his promise to create a more equal and "harmonious society."
But pride of place in Hu's address to ranks of officials in the cavernous Great Hall of the People was the insistent message that growth and Party control came before all else.
"Only development makes hard sense," Hu said more than once, reviving a slogan the late reformist leader Deng Xiaoping used to spur on investment and spending.
"Making economic development the focus is the key to national rejuvenation and it is the fundamental imperative for our Party and our country achieving prosperity and development and enduring peace and stability."
Hu's speech celebrated China's success since 1978, when a Party leadership meeting agreed to focus on economic development after decades of turmoil and isolation under Mao.
But the keynote address was also a peptalk for a country under strain from the global economic downturn that has abruptly slowed growth and lifted joblessness, as export-driven factories either curtail production or shut down.
Exports shrank 2.2 percent from their year-earlier level in November, the first monthly fall in many years, underlining the danger of increasing social instability, a primary concern of the Communist leadership.
Hu said China had "achieved positive results in responding to the international financial crisis," but also that the country needed to continue its difficult balance of market reforms and top-down political control.
"We must earnestly implement various measures to further boost domestic demand and promote economic growth, properly address the global financial crisis and other risks from the international economic world, and do our best to keep relatively fast and stable growth," Hu said.
China is worried that the thousands of factories shutting or laying off workers, especially along the export-dependent coast, could lead to unrest if the unemployed hit the streets.
NO TO WESTERN POLITICAL SYSTEM
While stressing that officials must back market reforms and the private economy, Hu dwelt on the need for greater state control. China must "focus on strengthening and improving the state's macro-economic controls and overcoming certain shortcomings in the market itself," he said.
But Hu also said the country owed three decades of growth to Deng's reforms that tore down the rigid controls of Mao Zedong's time, opening the economy to private and foreign investment.
His theme of carefully controlled change under the Communist Party extended to politics, where he said officials must heed the needs of citizens but rejected any notion of Western-style democratic liberalization. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
My Web
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
HSBC drags HK shares down 0.9 pct; properties support
Also on Reuters
First U.S. patient undergoes face transplant
Tiger Woods still uncertain about 2009 comeback
Video
Video: Images of Marilyn Monroe go under the hammer
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Recommended
Holes in Earth's magnetic cloak let the sun in
Fan death made "Idol's" Cowell think "long and hard"
HIV infects women through healthy tissue: U.S. study
Chrysler to idle plants, pressure builds for aid | Video
Madoff in house arrest, SEC under fire | Video
Sprint unveils dual-mode modem for WiMax
Downturn hits vacation enclave of New York elite
35 Iraqi officials arrested over coup plot: report
What are you looking at? Japan scientists find out
OPEC makes deepest oil cut ever to rescue prices | Video
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Chrysler shuts plants
A new face forward
Bush ducks flying shoes
Madoff under house arrest
Obama and the Middle East
Talk of the Town
Lockerbie remembers
UN backs piracy land pursuit
Obama's agriculture, interior picks
UK Brown in Mumbai peace bid
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Reuters Deals
The global destination for corporate leaders, deal-makers and innovators
Knowledge to Act
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Reuters in Second Life |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.