(Vatican Radio) China's outgoing president opened the congress with a speech calling
for economic reforms and - Hu Jintao said -- a tighter grip on corruption.
"If
we fail to handle corruption well," he said, "It could cause the fall of the state."
The
president noted there has been growing social unrest over graft and environmental
degradation, saying the Communist Party must resist protests and stay in charge.
He
also promised political reform but ruled out following European- or American-style
democracy
The week-long 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, will see
President Hu begin to hand over power to designated successor Xi Jinping.
It
will also appoint a new central committee of likely seven policymakers, and many minor
appointments like provincial governors and some company bosses.
In his speech,
the Chinese president made no mention of the freedom of religion but he admitted there
were problems to solve in policymaking, and named health care, food and the safety
of pharmaceuticals as areas where trouble had arisen.
Listen to regional
correspondent Alastair Wanklyn’s full report: