Hu calls on China to maintain reform drive

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-12-19  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

PRESIDENT Hu Jintao said yesterday that China must continue to press ahead with its "reform and opening drive," which in the past 30 years has turned the poverty-stricken country into one of the world's largest economies.

Hu said China's significant progress had proved that the path of reform was "completely correct."

"Standing still or regressing will lead only to a dead end," Hu told an audience of more than 6,000, which included former President Jiang Zemin and such present Chinese leaders as National People's Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao.

His speech, at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing, came during a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Communist Party of China's decision to open up the country and reform its moribund economy.

The decision, which saved China from an economic breakdown after the chaotic "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), was masterminded by Deng Xiaoping together with "his comrades who were bold enough to change the old norms."

Hu said the meeting 30 years ago marked the most significant turning point in the Party's history since the New China was founded in 1949.

The changes have been monumental. When Gu Xiulian visited France and Germany during a study tour of textile machinery in 1978, she was taken aback by Western affluence.

"I was vice minister of the State Planning Commission then, but even I had to buy food with stamps, even for a bottle of sesame jam," said Gu, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008.

"At that time people didn't have enough food and clothing. Ordinary people suffered most."

In the 30 years since that trip, the average annual disposable income of Chinese urban residents has grown 6.5 times, from 343 yuan (US$50.40) in 1978 to 13,786 yuan in 2007.

Over the past three decades, China has maintained average annual economic growth of 9.8 percent, more than three times the world average, Hu told the meeting.

Gross domestic product rose from 360 billion yuan in 1978 to 24.95 trillion yuan in 2007, making China the world's fourth-largest economy. The country's population living in poverty was cut from 250 million in 1978 to 14.79 million in 2007.

But Hu also cautioned the Party and the people to remain "realistic."

"Comparing our achievements with our long-range goals and people's expectations of a better life, we have no reason to feel content and stop moving forward," he said.

Hu said China still faces many challenges, including a low level of industrial innovation, a weak agricultural foundation, less-developed rural areas and deficiencies within the Party and the government.

"We must earnestly implement the (government stimulus) measures to further expand domestic demand, boost economic growth as well as cope properly with the international financial crisis and various risks in the internal economy to maintain stable and relatively rapid growth of the economy," Hu said.