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China vows to sustain growth

— Photo: Xinhua

Firm direction: Chinese President Hu Jintao addressing the Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

BEIJING: China has concluded the three-day annual Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing with a pledge to maintain stable, healthy growth next year through domestic demand expansion and economic restructuring. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao addressed the meeting, which is held once a year to set the tone for economic development during the next year.

It was agreed at the meeting that 2008 was an extraordinary year for China, in which the country experienced unexpected, seldom seen, major challenges. Those include a severe winter at the beginning of the year, the May 12 earthquake and the international financial crisis.

Fighting those challenges, China has taken a string of measures to further expand domestic demand and promote economic growth. As a result, the Chinese economy has kept growing relatively rapidly, with inflationary pressure easing and the economic structure improving.

The achievements “demonstrated the overall national strength China had built over the past three decades, proved the correctness of socialism with Chinese characteristics and justified the advantage of a socialist institution in pooling various forces to realise big feats,” according to the meeting. The achievements also displayed the “heroism and strong cohesion” of the nation.

As international financial woes worsened and permeated into the real economy worldwide, instabilities and uncertainties mounted for the economy. This, together with problems that already exist within the economy, increased pressure on the nation.

However, the participants noted, important opportunities for the economic and social development still existed and would not be reversed by the global financial woes. As they pointed out, priority should be given to maintaining stable and relatively fast economic growth next year. This will be achieved through expanding domestic demand, restructuring the economy and transforming the growth pattern. All will ultimately target improving people’s living standard.

In 2009, China will enhance and improve macroeconomic control efforts and carry out an active fiscal policy, as well as a moderately easy monetary policy, the central authorities decided. In this regard, expenditure in public areas would be “substantially increased” and those in major areas guaranteed. Financial support would be reinforced for farmers and agricultural production, employment, social welfare, education, health care, energy conservation and emissions reduction, technical innovation, manufacturing of state-of-the-art equipment, service and smaller enterprises.

Subsidies and other aid should be increased for low-income earners. It is also stressed more efforts should be made to “solve problems related to interests of ordinary people, so as to maintain stability of the society”. Wide-ranging measures should be taken to provide more jobs and improve social welfare systems for both urban and rural areas. To achieve 2009’s goals, the participants said, flexible and prudent macroeconomic policies should continue. China should also improve abilities to respond to changes and enhance the real effect of macro control efforts. — Xinhua

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