China's top parliamentary adviser said Saturday that keeping the economy stable and steady must remain the government's biggest priority this year. Jia Qinglin, the Communist Party's No. 4 ranking leader, told delegates at the close of the annual session of the legislative advisory body that more will need to be done to cope with the international financial crisis and keep the economy churning. “This year it will be crucial for China to continue to deal with the global financial crisis and to maintain steady and relatively fast economic development,” said Jia, the conference chairman, at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's closing ceremony. That message is likely to be repeated Sunday as China's biggest political event of the year, the National People's Congress, comes to a close. Beijing declared that China had emerged from the global crisis after economic growth rebounded to 10.7 percent in the final quarter of 2009. But authorities say the global outlook is still uncertain, amid worries that a stimulus-driven torrent of lending is adding to inflation and fueling a dangerous bubble in stock and real estate prices.
