'China must act on rights for sake of economy'
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-10-09 21:28
China needs to further improve civil liberties if it wants to maintain a high
rate of economic growth, European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has
said.
European Commissioner of External
Trade Peter Mandelson seen here in Brussels, October 04. China needs to
improve civil liberties if it wants to maintain a high rate of economic
growth, Mandelson has said. [AFP] | "I believe
that if China wants to have sustainable economic growth it must take steps to
increase the freedoms and the creativity of its people," he told daily business
newspaper Diario Economico Monday.
The former British cabinet minister also called on China to do more to reduce
barriers to the entry of overseas investors and exporters to its market.
"If Peking wants its partners to maintain their openness to China, it must
adopt reciprocal measures," he said.
With a national economic output of 2.26 trillion US dollars (1.79 trillion
euros), China's economy earlier this year became the world's fourth-largest
economy, after that of the United States, Japan and Germany.
Earlier this month China's central bank estimated that the nation's economy
should grow by 10.5 percent this year, after expanding 10.2 percent in 2005.
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