BEIJING — Chinese President Hu Jintao said Sunday that China doesn’t intentionally pursue a large trade surplus and it will focus on expanding imports in the coming years.
At a speech broadcast live on state television, Hu said China’s ultimate aim is to have balanced trade and that total imports will exceed $8 trillion dollars over the next five years.
He was speaking at a forum to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
The president also urged other countries to recognize China’s full-market economy status as soon as possible and relax restrictions on high-tech commodity exports to China. Major trading partners including the European Union and the United States do not recognize China as a market economy, making it easier for its firms to be found guilty of dumping goods on overseas markets.
Hu praised China’s 10 years of WTO membership as benefiting the country and people around the world, and said China, the world’s largest developing country, would continue to adhere to reform and opening up.
“The world today is an open one. Only by adhering to reform and opening up can we make continued progress to solve the problems in the course of development,” Hu said.