LONDON - CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday vowed urgent and coordinated action to avert a global economic 'disaster', saying the world is all 'in the same boat'.
WEN'S WORDS
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao spoke about his country's approach to dealing with the global financial crisis in an interview with the London-based Financial Times.
Below are some of his remarks, which were published late on Sunday.
'When bubbles burst, the world is exposed to disaster,' he said, following talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
'No single country can remain immune and address this in isolation. We are sitting in the same boat and we all need to work together to overcome the difficulties,' he added.
Striking an optimistic note the previous day, Mr Wen said he saw signs of recovery for China in the final days of last year after growth had slowed abruptly.
'During the last 10 days of December, it started to get better. The goods piled up in ports started to decrease and the price of industrial products started to rise,' he told a business audience on Sunday evening.
A Chinese business survey provided fresh tentative evidence yesterday that the world's third-largest economy may be pulling out of a deep dive.
The Purchasing Managers' Index produced for brokerage CLSA, based on a survey of more than 400 manufacturers across China, rose to 42.2 last month from 41.2 in December.
A figure below the no-change line of 50 indicates that business is getting worse, and the index has been below that break-even point for six months.
China, backed by its new economic power, is emerging as an important force in the unfolding economic crisis.
At a joint press conference with Mr Brown following their talks, Mr Wen said China's recovery would be crucial to reversing the global downturn.
'If China's economy can maintain steady development, it will be the biggest contribution to the whole world,' the Chinese Premier said.
Mr Brown said he wanted to double British exports to China within 18 months - from £5 billion (S$10.9 billion) last year to £10 billion by next year.
Mr Wen had earlier said, before talks with Mr Brown, that China planned to send delegations to Europe to buy commodities, goods and technologies.
China has already pledged four trillion yuan (S$885 billion) over the next two years to help boost domestic demand.
Work is under way on projects, including rebuilding earthquake-hit south-western China and improving road and rail links.
In an interview with the Financial Times that was published late on Sunday, Mr Wen said more might be needed.
'We may take further new, timely and decisive measures. All these measures have to be taken pre-emptively before an economic retreat,' he added.
The report gave no details of possible new steps, but Mr Wen said a plan to enable the use of some of China's huge foreign currency reserves for domestic purposes was under discussion.
China's economic growth slowed to 6.8 per cent in the last quarter of last year, dragging down the annual rate of expansion to a seven-year low of 9 per cent, as the world's most populous country felt the impact of the global financial crisis.
The Chinese PM said Beijing would try to keep growth at about 8 per cent this year, the Financial Times said. But analysts have cut growth forecasts to as low as 5 per cent, down from 2007's blistering 13 per cent rate.
Mr Wen's first trip to Britain since 2006 marks the end of a high-profile visit to Europe that has taken him to Germany, Spain, the European Union headquarters in Brussels, and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
At Cambridge University later yesterday, a protester threw a shoe at Mr Wen as he delivered a speech. The shoe missed its target and the protester was bundled off by university security staff.
