China's leaders meet to plan economic future

[pampango]

Source: BBC

China's ruling Communist Party is meeting in Beijing to draw up its next five-year plan for the economy. The agenda is secret but analysts say that instead of seeking a high rate of economic growth, China's leaders want to close the gap between rich and poor and between coastal and inland areas.

Earlier this week, a letter signed by 23 Communist Party elders circulated calling for an end to restrictions on the freedom of speech. The letter described China's censorship system as a "scandal" and an "embarrassment".

Their call came just days after the jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo - a champion for democracy in China - was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. A group of 100 activists in China has now signed a petition calling for his release.

China has seen remarkable economic growth in recent years - largely driven by exports. The BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing says China wants to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, which has grown in order to prevent strikes and disputes over pay, which have led to social unrest in the past. Any instability worries the party because it challenge their authority across the country, our correspondent says.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11548789

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China to address economic imbalance

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11548719
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Plans and intentions are easy. It remains to be seen if China's rulers really want "to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor". If they do, it may be for selfish reasons since strikes and social unrest "challenges their authority across the country".

[SpiralHawk]

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- xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney (R)