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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| China's president promises to increase trade imports | China's president promises to increase trade imports |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| China's President Hu Jintao has promised to increase imports, in an effort to boost global trade. | |
| Speaking on the tenth anniversary of China's entry into the World Trade Organization, Mr Hu said annual imports would exceed $8 trillion (£639bn) in the next five years. | Speaking on the tenth anniversary of China's entry into the World Trade Organization, Mr Hu said annual imports would exceed $8 trillion (£639bn) in the next five years. |
| Last year, China bought only $1.39tn worth of products from overseas. | Last year, China bought only $1.39tn worth of products from overseas. |
| Customs data shows the country's exports rose by 14% in November, while imports rose by 22%. | |
| The pace of growth has slowed from October as trade with Europe, which is China's largest business partner, moderated. | |
| Balancing trade | |
| With anaemic economic expansion in Europe and America, there is even more pressure on China, the world's second-biggest economy, to boost consumption at home. | |
| Mr Hu said on Sunday that Beijing was serious about pursuing balance in its trade policy, adding that it would bring opportunities to countries around the world. | |
| "We will view expansion of imports as an important way to change the development mode of foreign trade," he said at a speech at the Great Hall of the People. | |
| "We will work hard to promote a balanced international balance of payments. We will not deliberately pursue a trade surplus." | |
| China's trade surplus, a persistent source of tension with its trading partners, narrowed to $14.5bn last month, from $17bn in October. |