王辉耀的博客

[March 14th, 2012]

Host: Yang Rui

Guest speakers:

- Wang Huiyao, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School

- Laurence Brahm, political columnist and author

- Jonathan Holslag, the head of research at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary Chinese Studies

- Professor Huo Deming from the China Center of Economic Research at Peking University- Patrick Chovanec from the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University

Premier Wen said, "I have served as premier for nine years, which is by no means easy or ordinary. Due to my incompetent capability, institutional and other restraints, there is still much room for improvements. Although I have never committed any intentional error in my work or failed in my duty as head of the top executive body of the country, I should assume responsibility for the problems that have occurred in China’s economy and society during my term of office, for which I feel truly sorry."

Premier Wen said, "I know very well that the reform will not be an easy one. It won’t be able to succeed without the consciousness, support, enthusiasm and creativity of our people. To conduct such a big reform in our huge country with 1.3 billion people, we must always bear in mind China’s national circumstances and develop our socialist democracy in a gradual manner."

Premier Wen said, "We make our own right judgement and determine our own position on the issue on the basis of actual facts. First, the life of civilians must be protected. The killing of civilians must be immediately stopped by all relevant parties in Syria. Second, China respects the legitimate aspiration for change and for the pursuit of the Syrian people’s own interests. Third, China supports the special envoy jointly appointed by the UN and the Arab League in his mediation efforts. Fourth, China has deep sympathies for the humanitarian plight of the Syrian people. And we have participated in relevant International Humanitarian Aid and we will continue to do so."

Premier Wen said, "Cooperation is the way to address trade imbalance between China and the United States as well as the difficulties and frictions arising from it. The US should open its exports to China and ease related restrictions while promoting two-way investment. The two countries should work together to enhance mutual investment, creating favourable investment conditions and put more efforts on investment protection."

Premier Wen said, "We should allow non-government investment into finance and turn private financial activities into open and standardized activities. Also, we will encourage their development, while at the same time, putting them under strict supervision. The People’s Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission are now considering to launch an overall reform in this particular field. Wenzhou will be one of the pilot areas for this reform."

We’ve seen many interesting and smart comments posted online, and I’d like to share two of them here. One netizen named "passer-by" says there have been many proposals made by representatives this year but what he really cares about is how many of them will actually be carried out. Another respondent says he hopes to see more strict law enforcement in the fields of food, construction and transportation, because they are closely related to people’s lives.