HANOI -- Chinese President Hu Jintao promised an auditorium of Pacific rim business leaders on Friday China would speed up economic restructuring, deepen reform of foreign-related sectors and better balance import and export growth.
Speaking to the "CEO summit" linked to a meeting of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Hu highlighted the need for more balanced economic growth in the world and said his country still faced major problems in that regard.
"We will further deepen the reform of foreign-related economic sectors, accelerate the transformation of pattern of trade growth and improve trade structures to ensure balanced growth of imports and exports," Hu said.
"Meanwhile, we will actively introduce foreign investment, open the service sectors wider, enhance IPR (intellectual property rights) protection and raise China's overall level of openness."
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Later on his trip to Hanoi Hu was due to meet fellow APEC summiteer U.S. President George W. Bush for one-on-one talks sure to address these same topics.
China's fast economic growth and growing clout have been the source of both excitement and worry around the world, as foreign companies scramble for a foothold in the world's most populous country while a steady stream of officials pass through Beijing to press for more openness and transparency.
China has been slowly opening parts of the economy considered sensitive and on Thursday the announcement that Citigroup won a $3.1 billion bid for control of China's Guangdong Development Bank heralded a major step for the banking sector.
Hu did not explain how he intended to reduce China's bulging trade surplus, which has helped swell China's foreign exchange reserves to $1 trillion, given monetary policy managers a big headache and sparked friction with trade partners.
Still, his words, though vague, pleased businessmen attending the CEO summit.
"I was very impressed by Hu Jintao's talk," said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer of Microsoft . "To us it's a very welcome set of remarks."
A Reuters poll on Thursday showed that economists expect China's economic growth to slow next year to 9.5 percent from a projected 10.6 percent this year, although the trade surplus was likely to keep widening.
Washington has complained loudly and often to Beijing about what it says is a tilted playing field in trade, with China restricting investment and trade in some lucrative sectors, and commercial pirates producing a torrent of counterfeit DVDs, music discs and other copyrighted products.
The United States' year-to-date trade deficit with China reached $166.3 billion in September and was likely to easily outrun last year's record of $202 billion.
Michael Smith, president of HSBC <0005.HK> in Asia, told the summit that America's current account imbalance with East Asia was a key risk.
"What happens when China decides to reduce its holding in U.S. Treasury stock? The rise in U.S. protectionism is also a big worry."
Hu sought to allay the fears, saying China was committed to peaceful development and building "a culture of harmony".
Hu said China would "give high priority to ... speed(ing) up economic restructuring and the transformation of the pattern of economic growth".
Earlier, Hu laid a wreath at the tomb of Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Chi Minh and held talks with Vietnam's leaders on the first stop on a four-nation tour that will also include visits to India and Pakistan, where he was expected to unveil an ambitious nuclear energy assistance programme.
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