Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (887)	9/30/2003 11:43:07 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

China's premier promises to focus on economic growth but proposes no new reforms CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer Tuesday, September 30, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (09-30) 06:00 PDT BEIJING (AP) -- Declaring that China had emerged from the SARS outbreak stronger and more vibrant, Premier Wen Jiabao promised Tuesday to make raising incomes his government's "central task" but proposed no new economic or political reforms. Speaking on the eve of China's National Day, Wen invoked the Communist Party's pledge to build a "well-off society in an all-around manner" -- the motto for its campaign to spread prosperity to the rural poor and others left out of China's two-decade-old economic boom. Such an effort "is an enormous undertaking that promises tangible benefits to more than 1 billion Chinese people," Wen said in the speech at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing. His audience included party and government officials and foreign diplomats. Wen said the communist government had achieved a "significant victory" against severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed 349 people on China's mainland before subsiding in June. Beijing emphasized economic growth while also fighting the epidemic, pushing ahead with "sound growth momentum in our economy, an orderly proceeding of various reforms and greater openness to the outside world," he said in his first major public address since the end of the epidemic. Wen -- the No. 3 leader in both the party and government, behind President Hu Jintao and Wu Bangguo, head of China's legislature -- is the top official in charge of the economy. "We must firmly grasp and make full use of the strategic period of promising opportunities, always taking economic development as our central task," he said. In a speech heavy on upbeat slogans, Wen made no mention of the individual challenges facing China -- a banking industry mired in bad loans, rural poverty, massive layoffs by state industry and a decrepit public health system. Though Wen said "democracy and rule of law" were gaining strength in China, he made no mention of growing demands for the ruling party to share power. The speech seemed likely to add to Wen's image as a cautious technocrat. After eight months in office, he has yet to make any mark on policy to set himself apart from Zhu Rongji, his strong-willed predecessor and former boss. The speech Tuesday reflected a fundamental shift under way in party policy. After two decades of reforms that have enriched the booming, export-oriented cities of the east, communist authorities are turning development efforts to the vast, poor countryside, home to some 800 million Chinese. Wen promised to press ahead with closer integration into the global trading system, pushing for a "new leap forward in our economic and social development." National Day marks the anniversary of communist leader Mao Zedong's Oct. 1, 1949, declaration of the founding of the People's Republic of China following a civil war that ended with the rival Nationalists fleeing to Taiwan. Internationally, Wen said China would pursue more cooperation with other governments and would be a "staunch force dedicated to regional and world peace." He tried to reassure other nations about China's growing economy and military, saying its higher international profile should not be seen as a threat. "A strong and prosperous China can only bring benefits to the world," he said. sfgate.com