Hu says political stability helps maintain high growth
From Max Lee
The Daily Mail’s
Special Correspondent in Beijing

BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao said Saturday political stability had been a key factor in ensuring high economic growth in China, as he opened a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers. “China has ample labor resources, large demand in its domestic market, a high savings rate, and social and political stability,” he said. “All these have been favorable conditions for the relatively high economic growth in China”. Hu made the remark as he delivered a prepared speech at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, kicking off a weekend gathering of top finance officials from 20 rich and emerging economies, known as the G20.
Hu also said it is beneficial for the global economy as a whole for each country to be allowed to pick its own developmental strategy. “It is extremely important for the development of the world economy that the diversity of the various countries’ developmental models is preserved and that their complementary strengths are promoted”, he said. China routinely is criticized by foreign governments and human rights groups for its development strategy, which combines a free-wheeling market economy with a tightly controlled political system.
Talks to astronauts: Chinese President Hu Jintao Saturday made a brief long-distance call to two astronauts on the nation’s second manned space mission, as ground crews prepared for their return to Earth, state media said. Hu arrived at the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center for a two-minute conversation transmitted live on TV and radio beginning from 4:29 pm (0829 GMT). “The motherland and the people are proud of you,” Hu told the two men in orbit as he stood up amid rows of space program workers in blue uniforms. “I hope you will successfully complete your task by carrying out the mission calmly and carefully and have a triumphant return,” he said. Fei Junlong, one of the astronauts, thanked Hu and the Chinese people for their support, saying: “We’ll definitely fulfill our mission”. The dialogue took place just a few hours after spacecraft Shenzhou VI, embarked on China’s most ambitious foray into space yet, entered its fourth day of orbiting the Earth. Shenzhou VI is scheduled to land in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia early Monday after five days in space, although the exact timing of the return could be subject to last-minute adjustment due to the weather, state media has said. A welcoming ceremony is tentatively scheduled for sometime between 6:30 and 7:30 am Monday (2230 and 2330 GMT Sunday) at a military air base in Inner Mongolia, the Beijing News reported. At the landing site in Siziwang county, a public notice has been distributed, warning all potential curious onlookers to stay away.
“Apart from ground crew involved in the return of the spacecraft, no one else is allowed to go to the landing site to watch,” the Beijing News cited the notice as saying. Herdsmen in the area have also been told not to house any outsiders in the coming days, possibly in an attempt to avoid an influx of space enthusiasts. A more accommodating attitude was adopted Wednesday when Shenzhou VI blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Inner Mongolia’s border with Gansu province. Large tour groups were allowed to within just a few kilometers of the launch site. The stricter measures for Monday were justified with the need to ensure the astronauts’ safety, according to the Beijing News. The flight is China’s second-ever manned space mission following the historic Shenzhou V, which in October 2003 made China the third nation after the former Soviet Union and the United States to put a man into space.