MNI POLICY: Xi Says Party Central, No One Can Dictate To China

     LONDON(MNI) - MNI POLICY: Xi Says Party Central, No One Can Dictate To

China

     China must continue its "socialism with Chinese characteristics",

strengthening state-directed enterprises while promoting the development of

private enterprise, President Xi Jinping said in a major speech on Tuesday.

     Xi, speaking as Beijing is locked in a trade dispute with the U.S. which

has highlighted the dependency of the world's most populous nation on exports,

also warned that no one can dictate to China.

     Here are major points from Xi's speech marking the 40th anniversary of Deng

Xiaoping's economic reforms:

     --The supreme leadership of the Communist Party is "the most essential

attribute of socialism with Chinese characteristics and its biggest advantage,"

Xi said. He used the word "party" more than 120 times in his 80-minute address.

     --China will "resolutely" strengthen the state-directed economy while

supporting and directing the development of non-state economic sectors. The

close juxtaposition here may indicate an acknowledgment of criticism from within

China that the private sector has been weakened by supply-side reform and

financial regulations, which have favoured state-owned companies.

     --The government should allow the market to play a role in the allocation

of resources, improve its administration and implement the strictest

environmental protection. Critics have also charged that the role of the market

has been weakened in recent years, and that some regulation has seemed

arbitrary, such as the forced shutdown of smaller steel mills in the winter last

year.

     --Development must be China's top priority. This made it clear that,

despite effort to deemphasize GDP growth rate, China is still likely to maintain

a relatively fast growth rate, close to this year's 6.5%, in 2019.

     --There are no "lecturers" able to tell China what to do as it embarks on

reform and development, Xi said, referring to the nation's 5,000-year history

and population of more than 1.3 billion. China will continue to open up, promote

globalisation through multilateral trade systems, and add growth momentum

through building on the One Belt, One Road initiative. "China's development is

inseparable from the world, and the world's prosperity needs China," Xi said.

China will actively participate in the reform and building of global governance

systems and carry out its responsibilities as a "large nation."

     - As in Xi's past speeches, he cited China's history and quoted ancient

verses to stir a sense of patriotism. "A large nation such as ours must have

ambition," Xi said, then quoting Chairman Mao Zedong saying that what China has

achieved is only a prelude, not a climax, as the "play" unfolds.

     - Before Xi spoke, the ceremony recognized 100 individuals, including

Alibaba Group Chairman Jack Ma, and Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Automobile,

which owns Volvo Cars, as reform "pioneers," as well as 10 from outside China,

including Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, and

American Robert Kuhn, an advisor to the Chinese government. Also honoured were

the deceased ex-chairman of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio

Samaranch and the late Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew.

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3829; email: jason.webb@marketnews.com

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