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At Asian forum, China pledges domestic-led growth
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer -
Saturday, November 14
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SINGAPORE – China pledged Friday to wean itself away from export-driven growth as Asian-Pacific business and government leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the open trade and measured stimulus they say is necessary to assure a global economic recovery.
President Hu Jintao said China is doing what it can to fire up demand at home so that the world's third-largest economy is less reliant on exports.
"Our focus in countering the crisis is to expand domestic demand, especially consumer demand," Hu said in a speech on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which culminates this weekend with meetings of Pacific Rim leaders, including President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
China, which saw 8.9 percent growth in the last quarter, will continue with reforms aimed at improving living standards and reducing social burdens such as educational fees and health care that inhibit spending by frugal Chinese consumers, Hu said.
Such moves by China and other developing economies are seen as crucial for ensuring a sustained global recovery, given the weakness of the U.S. consumer market.
Leaders of 21 APEC member economies have mainly focused this year on strategies for building on the nascent recovery from the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s.
Obama is expected to seek to counter the strengthening conviction that U.S. influence is declining as China's grows, given the American preoccupation with pressing domestic and foreign policy issues such as Iraq, Iran's nuclear program and the war in Afghanistan.
Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew, a keen analyst of world affairs, said it is not Washington's military might but trade relations that will impress Asia.
"The contest is an economic contest," Lee said. "If you are out of the economic race, you are out in the long run."
Reflecting the building consensus that future growth hinges on the dynamism of China, India and other Asian economies, several speakers warned against withdrawing stimulus programs too quickly.
Much of the $787 billion in U.S. stimulus spending is yet to come. Asia, led by China's $586 billion package, has pumped more than $1 trillion into spending on public works and other programs aimed at spurring demand both from consumers and businesses.
"The recovery is fragile. It's a sluggish recovery, especially when you look at unemployment," Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, told reporters.
"If some countries exit from the stimulus too early or if some central banks tighten monetary policies too early, you may have some problems," he said.
Asia's economies are expected to grow 2.75 percent in 2009 and 5.75 percent in 2010, far outpacing the West, according to the IMF.
An electronic poll at Friday's conference showed most participants believe the worst of the crisis is past but that major challenges remain _ especially a tendency toward raising trade barriers to protect domestic markets.
President Hu called for faster progress in stalled World Trade Organization talks and for countering protectionism, "particularly the unreasonable trade and investment restrictions imposed on developing countries."
World Bank President Robert Zoellick described the creeping protectionism so far as a "low-grade fever, rather than full influenza."
The lack of spending in Asia also reflects the massive wealth that is controlled by the corporate sector, especially state-owned enterprises in China, he said. He said Chinese exchange rate controls are also hindering policymakers around the region.
Since the yuan's value effectively is tied to the weakening U.S. dollar, its yearlong peg at about 6.83 to the dollar may discourage other Asian governments from raising interest rates when they need to out of fear that their own currencies will appreciate, hurting their exporters.
China has pledged to loosen controls on the yuan, moving toward more flexible exchange rates. But it has moved slowly, and Obama is expected to raise the topic with Chinese officials when he visits Beijing following the APEC meetings.
Chinese officials indicated they will avoid sudden moves, citing the need for stability with global financial systems still in peril.
Hu joined business and government leaders in calling for more aggressive action in shoring up regulation of global financial institutions to stave off future crises.
"We should move forward reform of the international financial supervisory and regulatory system," Hu said, citing "major deficiencies."
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak likewise warned against slacking off.
"The early stage of recovery is the time that we need to be most wary of complacency toward reform and restructuring," Lee said.
The members of APEC, which is devoted to free and open trade and investment, account for more than 54 percent of world gross domestic product and more than 40 percent of the population.
___
Associated Press writers Alex Kennedy, Jae-soon Chang, Eileen Ng and Vijay Joshi contributed to this report.
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