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President proposes economy-reviving measures
By Zhao Huanxin (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-11-13 22:17 SINGAPORE: China on Friday vowed to vigorously boost domestic demands and voiced its strong opposition to protectionism, saying both are key to bolstering the fledging global recovery. "The world economy has shown positive signs of stabilization and recovery," President Hu Jintao told the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit.
But he cautioned that the economic upturn is not firmly established, with unsustainable patterns of global growth and major deficiencies in the international financial system. "Our focus in countering the crisis is to expand domestic demand, especially consumer demand," Hu said.
"We have been working hard to improve the consumption environment, adjust distribution relations, increase people's ability to spend and foster new areas of high consumer demand," he said. The country has implemented measures to foster a new pattern of economic growth driven by consumption, investment and export, he said. The measures are conducive to the steady and relatively fast growth of the Chinese economy and has also helped "the international effort to cushion the impact of the financial crisis and restore world economic growth", the president said. "China will further boost domestic demand, vigorously expand the domestic market, and promote balanced growth of domestic and external demand," he said. A priority is to improve the people's well-being by addressing issues such as medical care, housing, and old-age support, which have in the past constrained domestic consumption. The president voiced China's strong opposition to the persisting protectionism, which he claimed is detrimental to global economic revival. "Protectionism will not help any country move out of the crisis. It can only pose a threat to the fragile momentum of economic recovery," he said. The president stressed that only with trade and investment liberalization and facilitation can the world achieve economic recovery and growth. |