Government and Policy

Two sessions draw global attention: Russian commentator

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-11 02:46

MOSCOW - China's annual peak policy-making sessions have drawn attention from global mainstream media because of China's unique role, according to RIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Kosyrev.

The annual sessions of the National People's Conference (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference began in Beijing last week.

The most influential media across the world, particularly those of Europe and the United States, had been covering the two sessions for days, Kosyrev wrote in an article published on Tuesday.

Amid a global economic downturn of 2.2 percent, China's gross domestic product rose 8.8 percent in 2009, he said.

Information from the sessions had also influenced major stock exchanges, Kosyrev said.

One thing was crystal clear, China, with its foreign exchange reserves, would continue to underpin the U.S. dollar's stability, the article said.

Kosyrev also noted the increasing income gap among Chinese people despite the country's rapid growth over the past 30 years, which he said was highly risky for any country in the world, but particularly so for a country with a large population like China.

In order to solve the problem, Premier Wen Jiabao, in his government work report to the NPC, the country's top legislature, promised to "resolutely reverse a widening income gap" and would not only make the "pie" of social wealth bigger but also distribute it fairly via "rational income distribution."

What's more interesting, said the article, was the rather "revolutionary" policy had gained support from several foreign investors and observers, as it was conducive to raising the purchasing power of the middle-class, thus helping China to further support the world economy.