The Hindu : Business : China's economic might is good for world, says Hu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Business

Business

China's economic might is good for world, says Hu

Govt. will "step up protection of intellectual property rights"

`A BENIGN FORCE': The Chinese President, Hu Jintao, waves as he walks onto the stage followed by the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Time Warner Inc., Richard Parsons (left), at the opening ceremony of the Fortune Global Forum in Beijing on Monday. — Photo: AP

BEIJING: The Chinese President, Hu Jintao, tried on Monday to reassure China's trading partners that its growing economic might is a benign force for global prosperity, promising to open its markets more widely to foreign competitors and better protect intellectual property.

In a nationally televised speech to a conference organised by the U.S. business magazine Fortune, Mr. Hu pointed to China's surging imports and said its growth would create "win-win results'' for other economies.

"China and Asia are quickly becoming a new growth engine for the world,'' the Chinese leader told guests at the opening ceremony of the 2005 Fortune Global Forum.

"Continued mutually beneficial economic cooperation and rising interdependence among the world's countries will usher in an even better future for the global economy,'' he said.

Mr. Hu did not announce any new policy initiatives or mention any specific trade complaints. His efforts to reassure the world come at a time of raised concerns abroad in that jobs could be lost because of low-priced Chinese exports.

Foreign governments also complain that Beijing is costing companies billions of dollars a year in lost potential sales by tolerating rampant copying of goods ranging from movies to sporting goods.

Beijing also has rattled Asian governments by using its export-driven economic boom to finance military budgets that have grown at double-digit rates nearly every year for the past decade.

China's economy is expected to grow by about 9 per cent this year — by far the highest rate of any major economy.

Mr. Hu said that by 2020, the government hoped to quadruple its total economic output to $4 trillion (euro3 trillion), or $3,000 (euro2,300) per person — more than triple current income levels.

Invoking the name of Deng Xiaoping, the leader who launched economic reforms in 1979, Mr. Hu affirmed the ruling Communist Party's commitment to capitalist-style markets and foreign investment.

"China will keep opening up its markets, find new ways to use foreign capital (and) improve on its legislation and regulations for encouraging and protecting foreign investors,'' he said.

According to Mr Hu, China received a total of $562.1 billion in foreign investment between 1969 and the end of 2004 and approved the creation of more than 500,000 foreign-financed companies.

Mr. Hu said Chinese leaders would "step up protection of intellectual property rights, work still harder to help foreign investors and create an even better environment for trade and economic cooperation between China and the rest of the world.'' — AP

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