国内英语新闻:Chinese president urges adherence to macroeconomic policies in second half

BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao vowed to stick to the proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy in the second half year to sustain stable and relatively fast economic growth.

    Hu, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the remarks at a conference with leaders of the country's leading non-Communist Parties on Thursday in Beijing.

    Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior leaders including top political advisor Jia Qinglin, Vice President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Li Keqiang, attended the meeting.

    Hu said the Chinese economy is generally improving because of the stimulus packages the Chinese government rolled out to weather the global economic downturn, but caution against risks should be strengthened.

    The macroeconomic policies should be maintained to consolidate the current recovery to achieve the goal of eight-percent economic growth for this year, Hu said.

    China's annual economic growth quickened to 7.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, mainly boosted by a 33.5 percent surge in fixed-asset investment driven by powerful fiscal and monetary stimulus. The figure was compared with the 6.1 percent economic growth in the first quarter and 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

    Hu called for thorough implementation of stimulus measures to expand domestic demand. The government tried to boost domestic demand to offset falling exports because of a slump of global demand. The measures included programs of rural home appliance subsidy and home appliance replacement and purchase tax cuts on autos.

    Economic restructuring and innovation should be enhanced to ensure economic recovery, Hu said.

    In rural development, Hu called for efforts to boost grain production and increase farmers' income through various channels. More investment should go to ethnic, border and poor regions, Hu added.