Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets the press

十一届全国人大五次会议于3月14日闭幕。闭幕后，国务院总理温家宝在人民大会堂三楼金色大厅与采访十一届全国人大五次会议的中外记者见面，回答记者提出的问题。以下为温家宝答问实录：

《华盛顿邮报》记者：总理您好。一年以前，我的一个记者同事曾经向您问到一个关于在中国进行直选的问题，当时您表示这个进程应该是循序渐进的，首先中国老百姓应该证明他们有能力来管好一个村的事务，然后他们逐渐可以管好一个乡、一个县的事务。今年，在世界许多国家老百姓都将会通过直接选举选出自己的领导人，人们不禁要问，什么时候在中国的老百姓才能够通过这种竞争性、直接性的选举选出他们的领导人呢？

温家宝：是的。我曾经不仅一次地提出过，要坚定不移地实行村民自治，并且保护村民直选的合法权利。现在农村村委会许多实践证明，农民通过直选村委会是成功的。他们不仅有高度的热情，而且按照村民自治法制定了严格的选举办法。

我至今还是这样认为，群众能够管好一个村，就能够管好一个乡的事情；能够管好一个乡，就能够管好一个县的事情。我们应该按照这条道路鼓励群众大胆实践，并且在实践中使他们受到锻炼。我相信，中国的民主制度会依照中国的国情循序渐进地得到发展。这也是任何力量所阻挡不住的。谢谢。

《财经》杂志记者：我的提问是，今年的经济增速调低为7.5%，这是暂时性的减速，还是会变成常态性？中国经济是否已经告别了高增长的阶段？国际社会上在某种程度将度过经济危机的希望寄于中国经济的高速增长，现在中国调低了增速会对国际经济复苏产生哪些影响？谢谢。

温家宝：政府工作报告作了以后，世界上各种媒体反响最大的，就是关于中国经济增长的速度。我以为他们抓住了一个要害问题。这次我们将多年来8%以上的中国经济增速调低到7.5%，其主要目的就是要真正使经济增长转移到依靠科技进步和提高劳动者素质上来，真正实现高质量的增长，真正有利于经济结构调整和发展方式的转变，真正使中国经济的发展摆脱过度依赖资源消耗和污染环境，走上一条节约资源能耗，保护生态环境的正确道路上来，真正使中国经济的发展能最终惠及百姓的民生。

这个决心是在制定“十二五”规划时就下了的。我们“十二五”规划设定的目标是7%，今年确定经济增长7.5%，是为了与“十二五”规划的要求相衔接。同时，我也必须说明，这是我们主动调控的结果。

应该承认，由于欧债危机、外部市场萎缩，中国经济有下行的压力。但是在这种情况下，我们调低速度主要是为了结构调整。

我想说明的一点是，当我们宣布这个指标以后，许多国家的经济界、专家学者、新闻媒体都认为，从本质上看这是一个利好消息。因为中国经济能够克服不平衡、不协调、不可持续的问题，真正走上一条注重质量的发展道路，从根本上有利于世界经济的发展。

现在，对于我们来说，还是要把握好保持经济平稳较快发展、结构调整、管好通胀预期三者的关系。中国的经济总量已经达到47万亿元人民币，在这个基础上，增长7.5%并不算低。如果一直保持这个速度，在经济总量不断增长的情况下，更不算低。而且我们要想方设法使同样的经济总量能够换取更大的经济效益，能够使百姓得到更多的实惠。我们一定能够做到这一点，这是我们的目标。谢谢。

Washington Post: Thank you premier for coming here and answering our questions for one last time. One year ago here, you were asked by one of my colleagues about the possibility of elections in China, and you said it had to come gradually, step by step, that the Chinese had to first show that they can run a village and then a township. This year, people all over the world are electing their leaders in direct elections. That has had many people wondering and asking the question exactly when Chinese citizens will enjoy these same rights to elect their leaders in a competitive direct election.

Wen Jiabao: I have said on several occasions that we must adhere to the practice of self-governance by villagers in China, and the villagers' lawful right to directly elect the village committees must be protected. What has happened shows that this has been a successful practice. The Chinese villagers have shown strong enthusiasm in participating in this process and strict methods of election have been formulated on the basis of the Organic Law of the Villagers Committee.

I still believe that if the people are able to run the affairs of a village well, gradually they will be able to run the affairs of a township and then a county. We must continue to encourage the people to take bold steps to experiment and enhance their ability in this regard in the course of practice. I believe that democracy in China will continue to develop step by step in keeping with China's national conditions, and no force is able to hold this process back.

Finance Magazine: The GDP growth target for this year has been set at 7.5 percent. I would like to ask if it is just a temporary cut in the growth speed or a permanent one. Does it mean the end of China's high economic growth period? The international community has, to some extent, placed the hope of tiding over the economic crisis on China's strong economic growth. How will the downward adjustment of China's growth target affect global economic recovery?

Wen Jiabao: After I delivered the government work report, the highest attention from media organizations across the world has been paid to China's growth target. I believe they have focused their attention on a very important issue. For years, we have set the annual growth target of the Chinese economy at 8 percent, but this year, we have set the target at 7.5 percent. This is because we want to shift China's economic growth towards one that relies on advances in science and technology and higher educational level of the labor force. We hope that China's economy will achieve high-quality growth, and our economic development will serve the primary goals of making economic structural adjustment and shifting China's growth model. We hope that China's economic growth will no longer come at the cost of resources consumption and environmental pollution. We want to put China's economic growth on a path that is conducive to energy conservation and protection of the eco-environment. We hope that our economic development will bring greater benefits to the people.

We already made up our mind to do so during the formulation of the 12th Five-Year Plan. We have set the average annual GDP growth speed during the 12th Five-Year Plan period at 7 percent, and by setting this year's growth target at 7.5 percent, we want to make it fit the requirement set out in the 12th Five-Year Plan. At the same time, I should point out that the economic slowdown is the result of our proactive macroeconomic control.

Admittedly, China's economy is under downward pressure due to the European debt crisis and contraction of the external market. We have adjusted China's GDP growth target, mainly because we want to press ahead with economic structural adjustment.

With respect to the target of GDP growth this year, it is the consensus among economists, experts, scholars and media organizations from many countries around the world that this is, in the final analysis, good news for the world. Because if we in China can truly overcome the problem of lack of adequate balance, coordination and sustainability in our economic growth and get the Chinese economy on a path of quality development, this, in a fundamental way, is conducive to the development of the global economy.

We must continue to strike a balance among maintaining steady and robust economic development, making economic structural adjustments, and managing inflation expectations. China's economic aggregates now total around 47 trillion yuan ($7.5trillion). And with that base figure, a 7.5 percent growth target is not a low one. And this is even more so if we can sustain this speed as the size of the economy continues to expand. Moreover, we must work even harder to raise our growth efficiency so that more benefits will be extended to the people. We have confidence that we will be able to do that. This is our goal.