International forum on China's economic reform ends in Britain - Xinhua

BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
International forum on China's economic reform ends in Britain - Xinhua
April 3, 2008 Thursday


This article reports on a two day international conference of China's economic reform held in Britain. Li Zhaoxing of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs spoke on the economic and social development in China and challenges facing it in the future. Li recognized the 9.8% growth in GDP, the export volume increasing by more than a thousand percent, and a decrease in the population below the poverty line from 250 million to 20 million.
Zhaoxing attributes this success to four things, "First, China has found a path of development that is suited to its national conditions. Second, China adheres to the principle of freeing our minds. Third, China adheres to the policy of reform and opening up. Forth, China is committed to economic development as its central task."
The conference speakers largely praised the Chinese system of gradualism and the achievements thereof. Challenges facing the economy today were largely ignored, apparently, and none were explicitly mentioned, though environmental sustainability certainly leaps to mind.