CHINA: Hu Jintao opens key congress with reform pledges
Updated
Chinese President Hu Jintao has used his opening speech at the Communist Party Congress to talk about China's problems with wealth distribution, pollution and healthcare.He's even told delegates that the Community Party is falling short of meeting the country's needs. All this from the leader who needs to shift the balance of power in the party so he can finally take control in his own right.
Presenter: China Correspondent Stephen McDonell
Speakers: Joseph Chung, China analyst Hong Kong University
MCDONELL: China's 2,217 delegates to the Communist Party Congress gather every five years to choose the country's new leadership group.
Crucially they will select the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the group of eight or nine people, which runs China.
At the moment President Hu Jintao does not control this body.
It's still dominated by the supporters of Jiang Zemin who watched over today's proceedings from his seat next to that of the President's.
What Jiang and his supporters and all the delegates heard was in many ways the normal speech you would expect from the ruler of China referring to the Communist Party's leadership in managing the economy and the need to deliver a prosperous society.
But President Hu's opening address also spoke of the excessive cost to the environment from China's double-digit economic growth and the huge imbalance emerging between the rich and the poor.
And he didn't stop there. The downsides in modern China kept coming:
JINTAO (translated): "There are still many problems affecting people's immediate interests in areas such as employment, social security, income distribution, education, public health, housing, work safety, administration of justice and public order."
MCDONELL: He spoke of the difficult life lead by those on low incomes and the weak and lax nature of some Communist Party organisations.
He even suggested that to a certain degree, the Communist Party is not currently up to the task of running modern China.
JINTAO (translated): "The Governance capability of the Party falls somewhat short of the need to deal with the new situation. In depth investigations and studies have yet to be conducted in some major practical issues related to reform"
MCDONELL: He definitely spoke today like a leader who seemed pretty certain he was about to get what he wants in terms of a result from this the Communist Party Congress.
Professor Joseph Cheng from Hong Kong's City University thinks that this week's Party Congress will transform President Hu as a leader.
CHENG: He is in a much better position this time to define the composition of the new central committee and on this basis he is in a much better position to appoint new central ministers and new provincial party secretaries and provincial governors.
So he is in a position to shape the leadership and to ensure that those who share his views will move up the leadership ladder and of course it is a bit like a president in his second term, he has a much freer hand to push his policy programs.
MCDONELL: The Congress will run for seven days.
Next Sunday when President Hu walks out and presents his new Standing Committee to the gathered media we'll see if he and his supporters have taken control of the Party.
We will probably also see who's been anointed as his likely successor.
