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China's Wen puts emphasis on green growth

By Benjamin Kang Lim and Chris Buckley
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will do more to save energy and cut pollution in 2007 while striving to keep its economy humming following four straight years of double-digit growth, Premier Wen Jiabao will say on Monday.
In his annual report to the National People's Congress, China's parliament, Wen reaffirms that Beijing will actively explore ways to invest $1.07 trillion in foreign currency reserves but offers no hints as to how it will do so.
The speech, excerpts of which were seen by Reuters, is light on politics and foreign policy.
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But it underscores that Wen has made narrowing the chasm between the nation's bustling coastal cities and struggling inland villages a task that will define his administration's legacy.
"Protect social equity and justice, and let all the people together enjoy the fruits of reform and development," Wen says in his report.
China will lift spending on its restless countryside by 15.3 percent to 391.7 billion yuan in 2007, aiming to improve rural schools, hospitals and incomes as it seeks to ease social imbalances, Wen is due to say.
The need to shun growth for growth's sake and to make China's economy greener and leaner is a recurring theme in the speech. Continued...
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