China’s Hu Jintao says Socialism will prevail in final speech as president
China’s Hu Jintao Clings to Socialist Economy in Mao Nostalgia Speech
President Hu Jintao opened the 10-year power handover with a clear warning to modernizers that Beijing will not give up control over the commanding heights of industry and commerce.
In a valedictory state of the nation address after a decade in power - called “Firmly march on the path of Socialism” and delivered beneath a huge hammer and sickle - he insisted that “public ownership is the mainstay of the economic system” and warned that the party must “resolutely not follow Western political systems”.
The language was peppered with anti-reform code words and pointed references to “Mao Zedong Thought”, as well as a warning not to fall into “wicked ways”.
While Mr Hu called for a “level-playing field” for private firms competing with huge state enterprises, he said the party should “steadily enhance the vitality of the state-owned sector and its capacity to leverage and influence the economy”.
The underlying message is that there will be no root-and-branch reform of the great behemoths that still dominate the Chinese system and are widely blamed for graft and wasteful over-production.