The Hindu : International : Party charter to incorporate Hu concept

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Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007
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International

Party charter to incorporate Hu concept

Pallavi Aiyar

Beijing: In a move that signals Chinese President Hu Jintao’s ongoing consolidation of power, state media have reported that an amendment to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constitution will be made during a key Party meeting next month. The amendment will include a phrase encapsulating Mr. Hu’s hallmark emphasis on more equitable economic growth into the constitution, placing him in an elite group of Party leaders.

The official Xinhua news agency said that the CCP would revise its charter to include the “scientific concept of development” that Mr. Hu has promulgated in response to the widening income divide between urban and rural areas as well as regional inequalities between the booming eastern seaboard provinces and isolated interior ones.

Mr. Hu’s stress on creating inclusive growth by building a “harmonious society” stands in contrast to his predecessor Jiang Zemin’s more single-minded focus on breakneck economic growth. Although China achieved high growth rates during Mr. Jiang’s era, over the last five years the negative spin-offs of this growth including environmental degradation and corruption have become apparent. Mr. Hu has thus been striving for correctives with a renewed emphasis on health care and education in rural areas and the creation of what has been dubbed the “new socialist countryside.”

According to analysts, writing Mr. Hu’s theory into the constitution will formally put him on a par with his predecessors and establish his legitimacy as China’s top leader. The CCP constitution already includes references to Mao Zedong thought, Deng Xiapoing theory and Jiang Zemin’s “Three Represents” doctrine, which opened the gates of the Party to entrepreneurs.

The amendment will be made during the 17th Party Congress, a once-in-five-year meeting that will take place from October 15 onwards.

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