China fleshed out an ambitious expansion in government spending today designed to prevent the sinking global economy from further dragging down the country's recently buoyant growth and sparking unrest among laid-off workers and poorer Chinese, according to AP. In a two-hour address comparable to a state-of-the-nation speech, Premier Wen Jiabao struck a tone that was at turns confident and sober-minded. He called for expanding central and local government spending by nearly 25 percent to rescue the sagging economy and reach 8 percent growth _ a target Beijing believes is a make-or-break threshold for creating jobs and satisfying a population used to steadily rising living standards. Beijing's robust, deficit-backed budget and high growth target were intended to cheer officials and ordinary Chinese worried about the future and a world that is looking to China's economy to help revive global fortunes.
