President Hu: Country able to reach development goal

By Zhao Huanxin (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-12 01:13

SINGAPORE: China has maintained sober-minded that it is still a developing country confronted with problems whose magnitude and complexity are rarely found elsewhere in the world.

The remarks were made by President Hu Jintao, when he talked with Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew Wednesday night. The Chinese president arrived at the city state Wednesday evening after concluding a visit to the neighboring Malaysia.

Hu said that China had a very long way to go before it could reach the goal of building a well-off society at a higher level to benefit more than one billion people, realizing modernization and making the whole people wealthier.

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To attain the goal, China must stick to a peaceful development road, and keep up its reform and opening-up drive, while cooperating with the rest of the world on the basis of mutual benefit and in a win-win fashion, he said.

“With the world’s largest population, vast land and relatively abundant resources, China is able to rely mainly on its own to meet the development targets,” Hu said.

Lee said Singapore would be glad to see China make more progress in economic development, and to see it play an important role in regional and international affairs.

Singapore will go all out to cooperate with China in various sectors, he said, adding strengthening relationship between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will contribute to regional peace, prosperity and stability.

Both Malaysia and Singapore are members of ASEAN that have developed close ties with China.

Hu is expected to meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong on Thursday.