Hu Keeps Emphasis on Rapid Development

China’s ruling communist party has named the maintenance of strong economic growth as its top priority, even as it acknowledges the need to pay greater attention to the environment and social welfare.

Hu Jintao, party secretary, said in his opening address Monday to the party congress, held every few years, that development was of “decisive significance to build a moderately prosperous society…and socialist modernisation.”

“Rapid development represents the most remarkable achievement [of the last five years],” he said.

China has enjoyed annual double-digit growth in Mr Hu’s first five-year term, a rise which has transformed the country into a global trading power and one of the fastest growing markets in the world for many products.

The strong growth has created an enormous amount of wealth, especially in coastal regions, and also lifted tax income, allowing the government in recent years to plan a significant boost in spending on health and education.

But the growth has come at a cost to the environment, with widespread air and water pollution, in large part a result of a near-doubling in coal use, to fuel a surge in investment in energy-intensive industries.

The tension between the party’s push for high growth and its simultaneous demand for higher environmental standards has been a feature of Mr Hu’s administration.

Mr Hu restated the government’s determination in his speech to recalibrate China’s economic model away from growth-at-all-costs in favour of a more “balanced and sustainable” output.

In support of his policy aim, Mr Hu is using the congress to enshrine in the party’s constitution what he calls “scientific development”, which broadly translates to what is know in the west as sustainable development.

Mr Hu and Wen Jiabao, the premier, have used the issue of sustainable development and the introduction of a welfare safety net to distinguish themselves from the previous administration, which focused more intently on growth alone.

“To realise social equity and justice is the Chinese communists’ consistent position,” Mr Hu said.

But so far, policies to rebalance the economy and improve the environment have faced significant challenges in implementation because of the overwhelming priority given to strong growth at the local level.

In a dense address lasting more than two hours, Mr Hu also underlined his support for continued reform of the economy, an issue on which his statements have often lacked clarity in recent years.

“To stop or reverse reform and opening up would only lead up a blind alley,” he said.

The congress will continue for about a week, before its climax, the public unveiling of a new leadership line-up in a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.

(Richard McGregor, Financial Times)