President calls for more balanced growth
President Hu Jintao yesterday expounded on his core domestic policies in front of hundreds of welcoming overseas Chinese on his third day in Australia.
The central leadership would make more efforts to steer the world's fourth-biggest economy onto a healthier development road, Mr Hu told Chinese embassy staff and members of local Chinese communities in the Australian capital Canberra.
A more balanced model, which takes into account environmental protection and social justice, is a key policy shift made by Mr Hu from his predecessor Jiang Zemin's focus on breakneck growth and is likely to feature high in his keynote speech to the Communist Party's 17th National Congress on October 15.
'Macro-economic controls need to be strengthened in order to prevent the current relatively fast economic growth from running away,' Mr Hu said. 'More structural adjustments need to be put in place to fine tune the economic development direction. We should pay more attention to protect natural resources and the ecological environment.'
Mr Hu listed the 'main challenges' facing the mainland economy as rapid industrial and investment growth, a big trade surplus and a tough outlook in cutting energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.