Foreign media focus on China's social initiatives


(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-07 08:56
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BEIJING - Coverage on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report by overseas media on Saturday focused on China's policies on reforming the income distribution system, promoting social equity and enhancing social security that were laid out in the report.

Agence France-Presse reported China on Friday predicted another year of rapid expansion in 2010 but pledged to ensure the benefits of economic growth were shared more evenly. It said the Chinese government had noticed a widening rural-urban wealth gap.

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French daily Les Echos said the Chinese government had shifted the strategic emphasis from last year's maintaining fast economic growth to meeting the people's needs as Wen said in his report the Chinese government would take measures to restrain housing prices and accelerate lower rent housing projects.

Spain's most widely circulated newspaper, El Pais, said the Chinese people's living standards continued to rise, but the rich-poor and urban-rural gaps were also widening. The Chinese government has pledged to narrow these gaps, the paper said.

Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported Premier Wen in his report said China would change its economic growth pattern. China needed to change its pattern of economic growth in order to stop the rich-poor gap widening, the environment worsening and resources being wasted, the paper said. China needed to narrow the gap and end its dependence on exports because they could stop the Chinese economy from developing smoothly and healthily, it said.

Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao said Wen's government work report focused on supporting enterprises, employment, improving social welfare, reforming income distribution and strengthening the government's public functions. These plans underscore China's resolve to optimize its economic structure and create a fairer society, the paper said.

There was also media attention Wen's comments on fighting corruption.

Singapore's Straits Times said Wen demonstrated his resolve to fight corruption in his report. And the Philippines' World News reported that, in this year's report, Wen proposed to fully bring into play the function of the news media in ensuring administrative power functioned in the sun.