Premier in rare defence of record
Premier Wen Jiabao has mounted a rare public defence of his macroeconomic policies, which have been criticised both within the Communist Party and overseas.
In an uncharacteristically assertive manner, Mr Wen arranged an interview with a group of Hong Kong reporters yesterday during his visit to Russia. The premier said the criticism directed at his economic policies was ill-founded - the strong and stable growth vindicated those policies.
'Everybody agrees that China's economy has been doing pretty well for the past five years and actually it's one bright spot [in the global economy],' said Mr Wen, who has been in charge of the economy since 2003. 'If that's the case, then to label [our] macroeconomic controls as 'toothless' contradicts both fact and logic.'
Mr Wen's management of the world's fourth-largest economy has been a subject of heated debate. Overseas media and analysts have said his macroeconomic controls have been ineffective in cooling the sizzling economy and run the risk of damaging the mainland's long-term growth. There has even been speculation that Mr Wen has come under pressure to quit as premier at next year's annual meeting of the National People's Congress.
The 65-year-old premier, who retained his Politburo Standing Committee membership after the party's 17th National Congress last month, responded publicly to that speculation for the first time yesterday.
'I still have that pure and sincere heart,' said Mr Wen, who has built a reputation as the 'people's premier' through his populist approach. 'I shall continue to fight on.'