>there were also shortcomings, explained premier wen jiabao. some targets were not met.here are problems that worry many people here, he said. job security, income inequality, problems with food safety, and so on. state agencies must improve the quality of their work. premier wen jiabao also said a conservative it -- conservative growth target for the coming year, 7.5%, which is less than this year. he also announced plans to raise the incomes and the purchasing power of low wage earners. >> for more, let's bring in our beijing correspondent clifford to put this into context. how significant is the lowering of china's growth target? >> well, it is pretty significant in that it is lower than we have had for the last eight years. however, people are expecting growth to come in probably higher than 8% this year. people are looking with the message that it sends, which is that an emphasis on better rather than faster growth. >> the government conference in beijing will last for the next 10 days. what else is expected? >> the backdrop to this gathering in beijing is the fact

the premiere, wen jiabao giving the keynote, saying growth in 2012 will be 7.5%.t has been 8% for several years now. it's usually exceeded 8%, the official target. but wen jiabao pulling back the growth numbers now, saying what china needs is sustainable growth more inclusive growth. he wants to see more parody in wage growth for a start and a consumer driven economy rather than a reliance on exports. so big changes signal for the chinese economy over the next few years. well, that's how markets reacted to hong kong, you see down there, which is probably the best proxy for the investor reaction, down 1. 4%. anything that sees a weaker headline growth rate in china causes immediate concern, perhaps once the numbers and the comments have been digested we may see a bit of a pullback off that low there. but hong kong down 1.4%, shanghai down 0.66%. the nikkei down on the back of the strengthening yen and australia making up for a clean sweep, if you like, of red arrows there. charles? >> let's have a look at what is expected to move the markets in the sessions ahead.

let's delve further into this quote from wen jiabao.e also added that as far as the result of the investigation and how this matter will be handled are concerned, well, he said "an answer must be given to the people and the result of the investigation." he also went on to say this -- "the investigation should be able to stand the test of law and history." so, that's what wen jiabao has had to said, but andrew, as you said, he'll be leaving the job pretty soon anyway. >> absolutely. it wasn't all he said, though, particularly about responsibility to the people. as he rounded out of the mpc, the leader said that he wants chinese citizens to have more political power and more spending power, and he sees reform as the alternative to another upheaval like the cultural revolution. but the makeup of the new administration could dictate whether words actually translate into action. well, let's now discuss the direction china is taking both politically and economically in the year ahead. i'm joined by steven roach, who is executive chairman of m

after nine years at the top, president hu jintao and premier wen jiabao are preparing to hand power to a new generation. social stability has emerged as a key issue. the public is unhappy about inflation and the widening gap between rich and poor. wen said slowing the economy will help tackle these problems. >> translator: the purpose of slowing down our economic growth is to reform the economic structure of china. ultimately, the most important thing is improving standards of living in this country. >> reporter: the congress set a gdp growth target of 7.5%. this is the first time below 8% since 2004. the first objective is to cool overheated sectors and keep a lid on inflation. long time, though, the new target signals are changing priorities. the government wants to rebalance the economy for sustainable quality growth, shifting from an export focus to promoting consumer demand. rapid growth has created a number of problems. the auto industry is a prime example. china became the world's biggest auto producer in 2009. more than 300 companies are assembling vehicles, large and small. th

he met with premier wen jiabao when -- premier wen jiabao when. and he released a statement they released a statement, kofi annan spoke, saying the syrian government accepted the six-point plan. it said mr. kofi annan views this as an important niche help that could end the violence to the bloodshed goes on that mr. kofi annan is quite strong and stresses implementation will be the key in creating the rid of the violence in syria. so kofi annan and his team, also caution that if a plan needs to be implemented if the violence is to stop in syria. >> and with beijing, what has changed? because after all most people think of beijing and moscow as a blocker of the resolution of the crisis. >> well, indeed, they were both china and russia both blocked two u.n. security council ideas and wanted something a little less tough. kofi annan's plan seems to be exactly something which they can accept, because it doesn't appear to apportion blame. he calls the cease-fire and calls for humanitarian aid and proper, but it doesn't appear to have apportioned became

after nine years at the top, president hew gin tow and premier wen jiabao are planning to hand power. the public isn't happy about inflation and the widening gap between rich and poor. wen says slowing the economy will help tackle these problems. >> translator: the purpose of slowing down our economic growth is to reform the economic structure of china. ultimately the most important thing is improving standards of living in this country. >> reporter: the congress set a gdp growth target of 7.5%. this is the first time below 8% since 2004. the first objective is to cool overheated sectors and keep a lid on inflation. the new target signals are changing priorities. the government wants to rebalance the economy for sustainable quality growth. to promoting consumer demand. rapid growth has created a number of problems. the auto industry is a prime example. china became the world's biggest auto producer in 2009. more than 300 companies are assembling vehicles large and small. that's not an efficient use of capital. small makers have toroduce heavily. vehicle sales last year rose by a modes

>> wen jiabao, who hold -- will hold a press conference. at the beginning of that session, he delivered the annual work report which laid out to the agenda for the next 12 months. this is a chance for the premier to have the chinese media and foreign media put questions to one of the most senior leaders. >> the big question, when are we likely to see the leadership change in the china when wen jiabao steps down? >> that transition will start taking place later this year. what we will see is the communist party. people will start assuming senior positions within the communist party. we know that china's next leader is going to be him. there are nine people on the committee, seven seats will become available. senior officials behind-the- scenes will be jockeying for position in order to get a place at the top table of chinese politics. >> thank you for the update. an imam has been killed in a mosque in what is believed to have been an attack. he died of smoke inhalation and that one other person was injured. >> according to the belgian newspa

chinese premier wen jiabao, has called for reforms to prevent what he calls a historical tragedy like the cultural revolution. delivering what is his last address to the national people's congress before he steps down, mr. wen expressed regret that he was unable to resolve a number of economic problems facing the country. he told communist party members he did have the courage to face people and history. our correspondent in beijing, martin patience, told me more about mr. wen's comments. >> well, they certainly were very stark. he has called for political reform in the past, but it was the fact that he said, unless these political reforms were carried out, he said the leadership level of the party and the state, then we could see a tragedy on the scale of the cultural revolution. now, that was a period in chinese history over 30 years ago marked by chaos and the prosecution and killing of millians. so it was a very -- he made a very strong point there. but when he talks about political reform, he doesn't give any specifics. so, normally when chinese leaders refer to political reforms

we had wen jiabao signaling slower growth for china this year, 7.5%. still pretty strong. is that having any impact on markets? are people starting to factor lower demand coming from china or not? >> you know, it's really quite interesting. what we are seeing right now is a big disconnect between the rebound in the global economic activity and the demand data we see. in the u.s., of course, we have weekly data it's the most apparent. it is still contracting at a rate of 6%. it's shockingly low. europe it's the same. now interestingly we are also seeing a contraction in market demand growth. we still see positive growth but in emerging markets as a whole but in china very quickly actually in the fourth quarter we saw no growth in oil demand at all. >> and yet oil prices you just said are limited in their down side, the down side risk. if tensions are ratcheted up any more, on the world economy, the western economy, those countries are facing a bit of an oil nightmare. >> absolutely. absolutely. also expressed in pounds, expressed in many emerging market currencies, we are a

. >> premier wen jiabao has announced several shifts one being slower growth, the other being that his government will wean the economy off it reliance off external demand and foreign capital. wen made the remarks in his annual work report to the national people's congress in beijing on monday. >> translator: this year's first priority is to expand domestic demand especially consumption. we should pursue the goal of long-term stable and rapid economic development. >> china's economy is heavily reliant on exports and foreign investment and has been hurt by the credit crisis in europe. but analysts say the world's second largest economy is better placed to boost domestic consumption than japan, the united states or european countries. >>> japan and vietnam are enhancing their ties. japan's top business group is visiting the southeast asian nation this week. the two sides are talking about continued cooperation in infrastructure development including construction of nuclear power plants. japan business federation chairman met the vietnam trade minister on monday. the japanese delegation i

wen jiabao's speech reflects growing concern in china over corruption. >> at the heart of the common mistake in china, pressure is mounting. the ranks of the party have gathered to be told that economic growth is likely to slip below 8%, a level not seen since 1990, and china's leaders believe that simmering discontent may rise, as they tackle new efforts to battle inequality and corruption. >> we will tackle the problem of criminals not being prosecuted. we will work harder to be a clean government that fights corruption and fights the serious issues -- >> he is incensed. local communist party bosses are trying to take his farmland. last year they sent a gang of men who a salted his father and beat his brother. >> my father was inside the car, and they smashed this and cut his hands, and broke his bones. my brothers spine was fractured. >> he lives in a city of a million people, expanding fast. a brand-new local governments blocks the right opposite, mr. tam's land. this has been earmarked for new business district. he was so angry he began to film the campaign of intimidation. ther

national peoples congress, he made it appear as if he remained firmly in control, but -- >> premier wen jiabao stopped short of citing bo by name, but it was the first time a top leader publically criticized him. speculation is he was made a scapegoat for his aides' actions. chongqing is china's largest municipality. he was a party chief and launched a crackdown on criminal gangs and campaigned to revive china's revolutionary spirit. he encouraged foreign investment and spearheaded chongqing's ascent to become one of china's fastest growing cities. his development approach is called the chongqing model. his aide led the crusade against criminal gangs. bo expressed remorse over the scandal and indicated he was out of the race for the top leadership. >> reporter: analysts say bo's about-face reflects a struggle over top party posts between two groups. one is called the princelings, they are the children of prominent party leaders. an example is one expected to be china's next president. the other's father was a vice premier. the members emerged from the communist youth league and include preside

. >>> chinese premier wen jiabao says his government will wean the economy off its reliance on externaland and foreign capital. wen made the remarks in his annual work report to the national people's congress in beijing on monday. >> translator: this year's first priority is to expand domestic demand, especially consumption. we should pursue the goal of long-term, stable, and rapid economic development. >> the chinese economy is heavily relied on foreign investment and has been hurt by the credit crisis in europe. china watchers say the government's urgent task is removing the causes of people's insecurity and increasing their spending power. >>> one of japan's biggest mobile phone carriers is getting into the solar power business. soft bag says it will build new solar energy plants as it branches into renewable energy ventures. construction of two plants starts next month. one plant is in kyoto in western japan and the other in gunma, or tokyo. the company aims to start operations in july and sell the energy to power companies. softbank says its station in kyoto will generate enough el

wen jiabao states that they are releasing bo xilai. the communist party removes bo as the party of secretary in the city of chongqing. they are assigned to posts in major cities. bo led efforts to develop chongqing by attracting foreign investment. he was destined for a position within the party's senior leadership. they say he was dismissed with a power struggle between two groups. factions within the party are over struggles over which leadership they should take. xi jinping is expected to be the top leader at the convention. they are at odds with the communist youth league. citizens were caught off guard by bo's removal. bo is reported to have been charged with negligence of duty in supervising a close aide. police are investigating former vice mayor wang lijun. wang flew to an american consulate last month. an expert based in hong kong is said wang is said to have corruption which implicates bo and authorities may investigate him too. political maneuvering is expected to intensify in the run up to the party convention. >>> japan's

after nine years at the top, president hu jintao and premier wen jiabao are freep preparing to turn power to a new generation. social stability has emerged as a key issue. the public is unhappy about inflation and the widening gap between rich and poor. wen said slowing the economy will help tackle these problems. >> translator: the purpose of slowing down our economic growth is to reform the economic structure of china. ultimately, the most important thing is improving standards of living in this country. >> reporter: the congress set a gdp growth target of 7.5%. this is the first time below 8% since 2004. the first objective is to cool overheated sectors and keep a lid on inflation. long time, though, the new target signals are changing priorities. the government wants to heavily to expand production. if sales don't pick up soon, overextended automakers will go bankrupt. >> some factories, some firms in these industries with excess of supply, may shut down. this may be a painful process, a painful time but that's something that we have to experience. >> reporter: the changing labor mark

but premier wen jiabao said he was confident kofi annan's media should would lead to a proper and a partialution but after the meeting, kofi annan outlined his plan. >> i have a six-point plan with the security council dealing with issues of political discussions, withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, humanitarian assistance allowed in the release of prisoners from a great -- prisoners, freedom of movement. >> but it remains to be seen how syria will comply with that plan. details of its acceptance of not been released. members of the country's opposition have reacted with skepticism. hundreds of them met in istanbul on tuesday to develop plans for the country's future. they say president assad cannot be trusted. >> we did not trust anything from the assad regime. we used to for many years and his father for 50 years. nothing about his speech applied. so i am sure all this speech will not find any way. >> syrian state tv has shown fresh images of homs. this city, president assad promised to rebuild the bab amr are district recently retaken by his forces. under the

also want congress can keep my husband's articles, the 347 articles and 2 letters to the premier wen jiabao. >> thank you. we will receive those articles and i thank you. >> yes. okay, thank you. >> thank you. mr. genser. >> good afternoon, mr. chairman and mr. co-chairman, and thank you for the opportunity to speak with all of you today. i want to begin by thanking the congressional executive commission on china, and in fact, all the members and staff here today for the really fabulous work that you're doing on behalf of the united states. it is real service to our country to have such scrutiny of the chinese government's human rights record. as international pro bono legal counsel to imprisoned chinese lawyer gao zhisheng, i want to provide you with a brief overview of his case and my explanation as to why his continued detention violates both chinese and international law. i will also reflect on why, although mr. gao is only one of many chinese prisoners of conscience, his case is a bellwether that deserves especially close attention. gao zhisheng was a prominent chinese lawyer who ran a

world's second largest economy stable and over political counts a stark warning comes from premier wen jiabao i'll prepare to hand over power here it comes as beijing finds a debt laden europe holding its hand out for help our correspondent has her silly reports. with china's three trillion plus dollars in foreign currency reserves it was only a matter of time before debt laden europe came knocking on its store from chinese sorry about leaders always tell you ok they'll we need this shoulder we need school power so actually you can see it's kind of a like you would be present. if i could not put in practice may be the wrong some kind of a deal for me well it's not even a maybe china's call is clearly on the rise and so is its confidence this time around china has no qualms letting the e.u. know that it is well aware of its trunk card and that any help will come at a price top of its list of demands gaining the status of a full fledged market economy and. lifting the one nine hundred eighty nine ban on its purchase of military weapons from the e.u. . for the first time china has openly used it

second largest economy stable and of political crisis chaos a stark warning comes from premier wen jiabao who is preparing to hand over power later this year it comes as beijing finds debt laden europe knocking on its store for help our correspondents are selling your reports. with china's three trillion plus dollars in foreign currency reserves it was only a matter of time before debt late and europe came knocking on its store from the chinese side or the leaders always say ok they are waving his shoulder within the school car so actually you can see that's kind of a you tube because. it's like not putting in practice may be some kind of a deal for me well it's not even a maybe china's call is clearly on the rise and so is its confidence this time around china has no qualms letting the e.u. know that it is well aware of its trump card and that any help will calm at a price top of its list of demands. gaining the status of a full fledged market economy and lifting the one nine hundred eighty nine ban on its purchase of military weapons from the e.u. . and for the first time china has open

in a press conference broadcast live on chinese state television earlier this month the retiring wen jiabao warned that the growing wealth gap corruption and increasing hatred of the state could jeopardize the economic gains most startlingly he warned that mistakes like the cultural revolution may happen again any government official or party member with a sense of responsibility should recognize this wall to the cultural revolution happening all over all over the world even in america the case in florida where. neighborhood patrol shot a kid to death because he was paranoid but the kid mind some way be doing something that went against florida which is all for all right wing jeb bush lead nonsense but he killed a kid no investigation that's the cultural revolution we got the citizens to kill each other and then just let them do you know this is the way to get rid of the have to pay benefits anymore do you think that's one less benefit to pay their kiddies day well let's go back to the stories here because you have china this rising wealth and income gap you know hank paulson led goldman sa

. >>> here in asia, chinese stocks dropped to a 3 1/2-month low after premier wen jiabao dashes for a near policy easing. >>> so we're just getting some breaking news out from the uk. it's the uk february jobless figures. and, in fact, more people joining the unemployment lines than have been expected. the rate was 7%. the february adjusted claimant rate is coming in with forecasts up 5%, coming in right at 5%. the ilo jobless rate coming in at 8 347.4% which was in line w analysts' expectations as well. we should be paying attention to what's going on in the bond markets, the currency markets as a result of that. sterling is at 117.19 against the dollar. sterling moving onnen the backside of that news. also, hitting a record-high too. we've seen unemployment ticking higher. youth unemployment continuing to gain as well. jackie. >> thanks for that, becky. meantime we're watching futures in the united states as we're getting set for trade on wall street this morning. let's take a look at the board. it looks like we're seeing a little bit of positive momentum. the nasdaq, just above the

the hang high market property continues to be a big concern after wen jiabao continued to curb on a property sector dragging. this particular sector down 0.7%. property was weak in hong kong but in the end this market managed to end modestly high. mostly on earnings. 10 cent holdings, china's biggest internet company, copping in with 43% jump in q4 earnings and reporting earnings better than expected. so that there. elsewhere taiwan and kospi taking a breather after yesterday's stellar gains. over in australia, this particular market down 0.2%. more on china jitters and the sensex pretty interesting because we had the renminbi keeping rates steady. a lot of people were expecting a cut from the central bank. that went down with the market. people were a little bit disappointed in the banks dragging the market lower. on that note, that's your global market wrap. >>> the s.e.c. is cracking down on the trading of pre-ipo stocks. they charged investment funds felix investment and eb financial with misleading investors. the filing alleges that the fund managers raised over $70 million by overcharg

make sure that the two new gentlemen who will be taking over next year for the chinese premier, wen jiabao, have a number that they can better. gdp is probably in china, probably far above 7.5, he had to put a low-ball number on it. anybody who knows what gdp in china is within 4% is a genius. >> you wouldn't change your strategy on kmoodties one bit? >> i wouldn't change my strategy on commodities one bit predicated on the premier's comments one bit. >> what about the decision to stop cotton exports. what do you do on that front? >> that was a shock. i have to say nobody, nobody that i know in the cotton business was looking, expecting this to occur. and it leads me to believe, what's going on, this is something i found very unusual. caught a lot of people completely offguard. and ha does it speak to for other production in india? i must say, i have no position in cotton. i grew up in the cotton business, but this one caught me offguard. thankfully, i'm not short. i think what you are seeing is it's playing out over in the grain markets. what corn is doing. it's up almost 10 cents right n

on monday, we've listened to the report of the work of the government delivered by premier wen jiabao, and according to the report, continuing to accumulate domestic demand will remain a top priority of the work of the chinese government. at the same time, we are aware that some consumption boosting such as home appliances and trading old home appliances for new ones have come to the end, so the question is will the ministry of commerce incorporate a new round of stimulus or stimulative measures to build domestic consumption, and if that is the case, what is the timetable, in which format, or what sectors or regions will be the focal point? my second question is related to the current situations in china where we are suffering high circulation costs which has negatively effected the functioning of the chinese economy and improving of chinese living standards. i want to know your view over this specific matter, and will the ministry of commerce employ any measures to address this problem? the third question is given the sluggish u.s. economy, will the chinese government accelerate, or

yet earlier this week we had premier wen jiabao managing projections for growth. where do you see that economy moving and how does it play into the global picture? >> right. so china is still in a weak path of growth and that's what's taking the steam out of inflation. what we saw from the policymakers earlier this week they're going to be very cautious about the inflation growth tradeoff. we do look for the numbers to firm as we move through the year. but they're not going to look to stimulate like in 2009. there's going to be a much more cautious easing of policy to keep dwroet on track without igniting inflation so it's a more difficult tradeoff. it will be a constructive factor for the global economy so that lifting in china will help the whole region and global economy see better numbers in the second half of the year but, again, a much more gradual firming than what we saw last time around. >> it sounds like the leaders there are managing it well? >> they're trying very hard to manage it well. recall they're going through a political transition this year. th

china today, wen jiabao, the premier of china, the first time in eight years speaking to the national congress there saying to the peoples national congress saying we'll lower our growth target to 7.5%. that's still a lot. but that shows you china is trying to focus on quality in its economy, not speed. chinese growth has been gang busters for 30 years. at least double digit, mostly double digit growth in china's economy over the past 30 years. they're trying to slow it down just a little bit, reign it in, focus on quality over just speed there. this pertains to commodities, metals, stocks, anything you can think of in financial markets will be affect by this. i want to show you quickly how china compares to the rest of the world. china is the driver. eu growth is forecast at 0%. nothing. nothing. that's painful. zero is painful. europe still has a lot of work to do. china, even with a slower growth target if they can manage to slow it down, 7.5%. i want to real quickly focus on another thing, too. military spending. the chinese are boosting military spending by 11%, still a fraction

chinese premier wen jiabao is making boosting consumer demand the year's first priority. beijing wants to wean the economy off of its reliance on external demand and foreign capital. in corporate news, bp reaching that settlement with businesses and individuals who were impacted by the gulf of mexico oil spill. that is worth $6.8 billion. shares of bp this morning have been trading high er. some analysts say the expected payout is less than they had forecast. investors note that the deal reduces legal uncertainty. guys, this is something that tells you about that crazy weather and extreme weather, what it means. we're talking years later about the impact of hurricane katrina. >> when you think about bp, you remember right after the bp there was a moment at which people thought the whole company was going bankrupt and then when they tried to go to the capital markets to raise the bond. >> yes. >> it is sort of amazing when you think back to how at that moment in time it looked like -- and there were so many people who came on the air and said the company is not going to ma