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China faces crisis on jobs, says president
15.12.08
China's President has painted a gloomy prospect for his country's economy, which was until recently the hope of the West for a soft landing from a global recession.
Those hopes collapsed along with Lehman Brothers and the crisis in the global financial industry but the contraction of the Chinese economy has still taken many by surprise.
President Hu Jintao says China will face "very serious" employment conditions in 2009 as a result of the financial meltdown and that the government will adopt an "even more active" policy to create jobs.
He said maintaining social stability had become a more important task while the economy is "in difficulty".
Trying to wring some growth from the ailing giant is the first priority for next year, Hu said. The central bank is expected to add to last month's steep interest rate cut before the end of the year. It reduced the key one-year lending rate to 5.58%, compared with 7.47% in September.
