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China vows more moves to fight slowdown
Beijing (AFP) Feb 24, 2009 China's ruling Communist Party elite has vowed to take a slew of measures to respond to an economic slowdown that it said would make 2009 the most difficult year in nearly a decade. "We will increase large-scale government investment, implement and readjust a plan to revive industries, make great efforts to boost innovation, and greatly enhance the level of social security," the politburo said in a press release issued late on Monday. The statement followed a meeting of the 25-member politburo presided over by President Hu Jintao, during which the party outlined its broad priorities ahead of next month's annual parliamentary session. The party has signalled in recent days it intends to take measures during the National People's Congress session, beginning on March 5, to cushion the blow from the slowest economic growth in nearly 20 years. China's growth slowed to 6.8 percent in the final quarter of last year, way down from the double-digit expansion seen for most of this decade. The global financial crisis has particularly hit the nation's vital manufacturing and export sectors, leaving at least 20 million migrant workers jobless. This has raised concerns of social unrest, and the politburo alluded to such worries in its statement. "The tasks of reform, development and stability are quite onerous," it said. The statement offered no specific policy proposals but said the government would seek to increase domestic demand, promote industrial restructuring, "improve living standards and promote social harmony." The grim warning is the latest of several from China's leadership, which in November unveiled a spending package worth four trillion yuan (580 billion dollars) by the end of 2010 to cushion the impact of the crisis. Premier Wen Jiabao said this month that China must take "extraordinary measures" to boost the economy beyond that package, according to the Financial Times. The People's Daily, the Communist Party's mouthpiece newspaper, also warned this month about possible unrest. It said authorities must "control factors that could cause instability or problems like housing, the stock market, failed companies, mass layoffs and migrant workers going home to the countryside." Share This Article With Planet Earth
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