(Reuters) – China’s president-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, has said the ruling Communist Party must embrace reform with fresh vigor to stave off social and economic malaise, sources said, citing accounts of comments he made at a meeting with a party reformer.
Xi met the prominent reformer, Hu Deping, in the past six weeks, the sources said, in a gesture intended to show he was listening to voices calling for not only faster economic liberalization but also a relaxation of political controls.
China’s new leadership team, to take the reins of power from March next year, faces a slowing economy and demands from inside and outside the party to tackle problems that reformists see as threats to both growth and social stability – such as a yawning wealth gap, limited political freedom and corruption.
“The problems that China has accumulated are unprecedented,” one of the sources said, paraphrasing what he said was a written summary of Xi’s remarks circulated among some retired officials.
“We must seek progress and change while remaining steady,” Xi was quoted as saying.
Xi’s comments suggested that his priorities on taking over from President Hu Jintao would be to shore up China’s slowing and maturing economy and to give a boost to private business with tax reductions and other incentives, said one source.
Another source said Xi also recognized the need to deal with “corruption and ill-discipline in the party” as a top priority.
The amassing of wealth by Chinese officials’ families has become a source of public anger and a sensitive topic for Beijing. Last weekend, China demoted a top official, partly because his son was involved in a deadly crash of a luxury sports car, sources close to the leadership say.
