China will make progress while maintaining stability: Jiabao

Beijing, Mar 5(ANI): Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday said the country would progress while maintaining stability.

Addressing the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee here, Jiabao said: "We consolidated and built upon our achievements in responding to the global financial crisis and got the 12th Five-Year Plan period off to a good start."

"We are keenly aware that China still faces many difficulties and challenges in economic and social development," The China Daily quoted Jiabao, as saying.

The report said, globally, the road to global economic recovery will be torturous, the global financial crisis still evolving, and some countries will find it hard to ease the sovereign debt crisis any time soon.

Industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization are proceeding rapidly, and improvements in the consumption pattern and the industrial structure will create huge potential demand, he said.

China still has its traditional strengths in economic development, as well as rich human resources and a more skilled workforce, he added.

"We have a good balance between government revenue and expenditures and a sound financial system, and there is ample nongovernmental capital," he said. (ANI)