Premier to Chinese: Get Ready to Buy, Buy, Buy

Consumer spending is what China needs now: Wen Jiabao
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 5, 2012 12:49 AM CST
Updated Mar 5, 2012 4:35 AM CST
Premier to Chinese: Get Ready to Buy, Buy, Buy
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao speaks to the National People's Congress in Beijing's Great Hall of the People today.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

China's premier today called on his countrymen to spend big to boost the national economy because international markets aren't up to the job. "Expanding domestic demand, particularly consumer demand, is essential to ensuring China's long-term, robust economic development, and is the focus of our economic work this year," Premier Wen Jiabao told the National People's Congress. To that end, Wen pledged greater support for health care, social security, jobs programs, and public housing to put more money in people's pockets, reports AP. The government will also back more paid vacations and greater consumer credit, he vowed. His address underscores a new government concentration on bolstering consumer spending in China rather than a focus on exports and low-cost labor. (More consumer economy stories.)

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