Wu Jinglian, a well-known economist with the Development Research Center under China's State Council (cabinet), said in an article that transforming the mode of growth remained China's key task amid the economic hardship caused by the global financial crisis.

"In the long run, the key task for China is to change its growth mode since it is the root cause of imbalances in both the internal and external markets," Wu wrote in the Beijing-based Caijing magazine.

"Without this transformation, China could not solve the problems caused by excess consumption of natural resources, or environmental pollution, or the problem of too much investment and insufficient domestic consumption, or the problem in the financial sector," he said.

The government hopes to achieve more sustainable and steady growth with a better skilled work force and technological innovation. It also aims to boost domestic demand.

(Xinhua News Agency January 1, 2009)