International

Hu: China upholding global financial stability

LIMA: China’s President Hu Jintao gave an outline of China’s future development to the business community of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Addressing the APEC Chief Executive Officers Summit, Mr. Hu said China would continue to follow the “scientific outlook on development” by putting people first and making development comprehensive, balanced and sustainable.

“We will unswervingly pursue reform, improve the socialist market economy and build systems and institutions that are dynamic, efficient, more open and conducive to scientific development,” he said. China would follow a new path of industrialisation with Chinese characteristics and transform the mode of economic growth, he said.

Instead of relying heavily on higher consumption of resources, China would achieve development by making scientific and technological progress, improving the quality of the workforce and developing innovative management, he added.

Since the beginning of 2008, China has taken measures to address the complex changes in the international economic environment and the severe challenges of major natural disasters, he said, adding: “The fundamentals of the Chinese economy have not changed.”

“The steady and relatively faster economic development in China is in itself a major contribution to upholding international financial stability and promoting world economic development,” he emphasised. Between January and September, China’s GDP grew by 9.9 per cent and the three major demands of investment, consumption and export grew by over 20 per cent. However, since September, with the advent of the financial crisis, difficulties confronting China’s economic development have become more obvious, said Mr. Hu.

The growth rate of China’s export has begun to decline and industrial production and corporate profits have been adversely affected to varying degrees, he added.

“In view of this and in order to boost economic development, the Chinese government has strengthened macroeconomic regulation in a timely way and decided to follow a proactive fiscal policy and a moderately easy monetary policy,” he said.

China has lowered the required reserve ratio, cut the deposit and lending rates and eased the corporate tax burdens. China has recently adopted even stronger measures to generate greater domestic demand, said Mr. Hu.

The government has decided to invest an additional 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion) this year to accelerate projects related to infrastructure, environment and post-disaster reconstruction, he said. This is expected to generate a total of 400 billion yuan ($58.4 billion) of investment nation wide, he pointed out, adding that between the fourth quarter this year and the end of 2010, investment in these projects alone will reach nearly 4 trillion yuan ($584 billion).

Implementation of these measures will give a strong impetus to China’s economic development, Mr. Hu said. — Xinhua

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