Govt vows to raise demand, maintain financial stability

By Bao Wanxian in Nanning and Zhang Qi in Beijing (Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-23 07:34

China has to maintain financial stability and raise domestic consumption to overcome the financial crisis plaguing the world, State leaders said Wednesday.

A visitor checks out Myanmarese jewelry at the 5th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, October 22, 2008. [Xinhua]

And despite its GDP growth dipping to a five-year low in the third quarter of this year, China will continue to cooperate with the international community to deal with the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, they said.

The most important task now is to take steps to meet external challenges, and ensure the stability of the economy, especially the financial and the domestic capital markets, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan said Wednesday.

In a keynote speech at the 5th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Wang said: "We should make our best efforts to increase domestic consumption."

As the world's fourth largest economy, China, too, is caught in the vortex of the financial crisis because weak global demand has dampened its exports and slowed its economic growth.

China has called for concerted global cooperation to overcome the crisis, Vice-President Xi Jinping told the 11th Asia-Europe Business Forum in Beijing, a prelude to the Oct 24-25 Asia-Europe Meeting.

"China has been closely monitoring the steps taken by other countries and regions to stabilize the financial markets. Countries (across the world) need to enhance dialogue to boost financial reforms and strengthen the capabilities to resist financial risks," he said.

The 5th China-ASEAN Expo comes at a crucial time, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said. The expo, which opened Wednesday, is a high-profile platform for economic communication between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"It's more necessary now than ever to strengthen cooperation between China and ASEAN members," Chen said.

Wang called for better cooperation and the setting up of a free-trade area (FTA) as scheduled, and the two sides vowed to complete the China-ASEAN FTA before 2010.