Hu:China makes more contributions to world economic growth

Chinese President Hu Jintao said Thursday that his country is making more contributions to world economic growth as its economy has made strides in the past decade. China has served as a huge market for other countries and its growth has added momentum to global economic recovery, Hu said in a speech at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in this French seaside city. After the outbreak of the global financial crisis, China has substantially increased its financial contributions to international financial institutions and extended a helping hand to other developing countries, said the Chinese president. China has also increased bond purchase from developed countries and played its part in assisting the economic and social development of relevant countries and stabilizing the international economic and financial situation, he said. This year marks the 10th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO. In the past 10 years, China's average tariff level has dropped from 15.3 percent to 9.8 percent, lower than the WTO requirement for developing countries, Hu said. Meanwhile, China's imports in this period aggregated 8.5 trillion U.S. dollars, creating a huge market for other countries, he said. He added that in the coming five years, China's imports are expected to exceed 8 trillion dollars, which will be a major contribution to the global economy. The overall situation of China's economic and social development is good, said Hu. In the first three quarters, China's GDP grew 9.4 percent year-on-year and the average per capita income for both urban and rural residents rose fairly rapidly. There is also a better balance between domestic and external demands in driving economic growth as China's imports grew faster than exports, said Hu. On the other hand, China is confronted with quite a few challenges in its efforts to maintain steady and fast growth, said the Chinese leader. Some institutional and structural problems that have built up over the years remain unresolved, and there are some negative factors affecting the sound performance of China's economy, he said. The overall price level is rather high, some small- and medium-sized enterprises face difficulties, job pressure is growing, and much more needs to be done in energy conservation and greenhouse gas emission reduction, said Hu. To sustain the sound momentum of China's economic and social development, China will continue to pursue development in a scientific way and redouble efforts to shift the growth model, he said. He expressed confidence that China's economy has bright prospects. "Continued steady and fast economic growth in China will serve the interest of global economic growth," said Hu.