Sustaining stable growth the toughest test, says Hu
Maintaining stable growth of the mainland's economy in the face of the global financial meltdown would be a severe test for the Communist Party, President Hu Jintao told the party's elite yesterday at a Politburo meeting.
Mr Hu issued a rallying call and asked officials at all levels to study the situations carefully, and take 'scientific and objective' measures to meet the challenges ahead.
He said China would face mounting pressures as the crisis deepened.
'The global economy will obviously slow down,' he told Politburo members at the first meeting he chaired after returning from abroad.
'Foreign demand [for Chinese goods] will drop. We will see more trade disputes and the rise of protectionism. Whether we can keep stable and rapid economic growth, turn challenges into opportunities and change our mode of development would be a severe test for the party.'
Mr Hu said the mainland must adhere to its early goal of becoming a greener and knowledge-based economy. It should maintain its open-door policy and diversify its market, and Chinese companies needed to improve the quality of their products.
His call came as worries deepened over whether the mainland could ride out the storm and emerge from the crisis unscathed. There is concern that the economy will experience a drastic slowdown as foreign markets continue to shrink.
But a trade expert with the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday that mainland exports were expected to grow 15 per cent next year despite the global economic woes.
Exports of electrical and electronic products would continue to increase, Mei Xinyu, a government expert with the Academy of International Trade and Economic Co- operation, told Xinhua.
'The advanced electrical and electronic manufacturing industry holds the key to the development of the Chinese economy. As long as exports of these products continue to grow, China's export prospects won't be too bad.' He acknowledged that demand for garments, accessories, textiles, shoes and furniture would be most affected.
Figures from the State General Administration of Customs showed exports of electrical and electronic products totalled US$288.89 billion in the first 10 months, rising 21 per cent from the same period last year.
During the economic crisis, multinational manufacturers were likely to speed up the process of moving their production to the mainland or to source more made-in-China products to cut costs, Mr Mei said. He also noted that tax rebates for exports had been raised three times since late July, and predicted more favourable policies would be adopted in the future to encourage both exports and imports.
Customs figures showed that the mainland's foreign trade volume in the first 10 months to October hit US$2.189 trillion, up 24.4 per cent over a year earlier.
Guangdong - which has long been the mainland's export powerhouse - recorded US$577.83 billion in foreign trade volume in the first 10 months, accounting for 26.3 per cent of the country's total, customs data showed.
Challenging times
The World Bank forecast for China's economic growth for next year is: 7.5%
