Financial Times

　　By Richard McGregor in Beijing

　　Maintaining China’s rapid economic growth remains the ruling Communist party’s “top priority”, President Hu Jintao said on Monday, even as he acknowledged the need to pay greater attention to the environment and social welfare.

　　Mr Hu, who heads the party, opened its five-yearly congress by declaring that economic development had been of “decisive significance” in modernising the country and building a prosperous “socialist” society. “Rapid development represents the most remarkable achievement [of the last five years],” he said.

　　China has enjoyed near double-digit annual growth in Mr Hu’s first five-year term, a rise which has transformed the country into a global trading power and one of the fastest growing markets in the world for many products.

　　But the growth has been built on a surge in investment in energy-intensive industries and a near-doubling in coal use, and accompanied by widespread air and water pollution that has drawn growing public anger.

　　Because of that, tension between the party’s push for economic growth and its simultaneous demand for higher environmental standards has been a growing feature of Mr Hu’s administration.

　　Mr Hu restated the government’s determination in his speech to recalibrate China’s economic model away from growth-at-all-costs in favour of a more “balanced and sustainable” output.

　　Mr Hu and Wen Jiabao, the premier, have used the issue of sustainable development and increased welfare spending to distinguish themselves from the previous administration, which focused more on growth. “To realise social equity and justice is the Chinese communists’ consistent position,” he said.

　　In a lengthy address, which ran over 58 densely typed pages, Mr Hu also called for a permanent peace with Taiwan and promised to “explore various ways to expand intra-party democracy at the grassroots level”.

　　While public ownership would remain “dominant”, Mr Hu said that he supported protection of property rights and promised that “all economic sectors [could] compete on an equal footing and reinforce each other”.

　　He said weaning the economy off exports and climbing faster up the technology ladder were priorities. In a sign of the state’s determination to modernise local industry, China Development Bank announced on Monday that it would commit Rmb80bn ($10.6bn) over five years to develop high-tech businesses.

　　The Chinese Communist party’s congress is held every five years to choose a leadership team and set broad policies to be implemented by the government. It lasts for about a week with most meetings conducted behind closed doors.