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2.
CHINA
Present:
Sir J Coles
Mr Hum
Mr Clark, RAD
Mr Greenwood, FED
INTERNAL/ECONOMIC REFORM
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Russian Delegation as before
an
13. Mr Solovyev said that the recent 14th Party congress
had established a new "leadership of reform" and had
reaffirmed that the reform process and the open-door policy
would continue apace. Jiang Zemin's election as President
at the NPC was not just a matter of protocol. It meant that
Jiang Zemin was now the foremost politician in China. It signified a change in Party-State relations and was
element of political reform. China was set to become the
largest economic power in the region, but there were a
number of problems threatening stability; these included
possible overheating of the economy, disproportionate economic growth between the coastal and inland provinces,
increasing unemployment, closure of loss-making state-owned
enterprises etc. However the "new" leadership were
pragmatic and reformist and were likely to give economic reform fresh impetus. Contrary to expectation economic
reforms were leading to some significant political changes. For example the Central Committee International Liaison Department did not now deal with foreign policy, only with inter-party relations. Foreign Policy was now the preserve
These sort of changes had occured in the FSU
and were a big achievement for the Chinese. There were
of the MFA.
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