Wen Jiabao: It is a great pleasure for me to be interviewed by Le Figaro. The newspaper enjoys a long history and significant influence around the world. The next year marks the 180th anniversary of the creation of your newspaper. I would like to congratulate on the occasion.
Meeting with French friends, I cannot help thinking of a saying by Gu Hongming, a renowned Chinese thinker at the end of the 19th century. He said, " It seems that only the French people could understand China and the Chinese civilization because the French share an extraordinary quality with the Chinese, namely, delicacy. "So when I meet French friends including the two of you, I do not feel there is estrangement between us.
Both China and France are countries with long histories and glorious cultures. Both of us are independent and self-reliant yet open and inclusive. These are our similarities. China-France relations are at its best in history and both parties are committed to developing comprehensive strategic partnership and bilateral political mutual trust is continuously deepened. The two countries have maintained close coordination and support on key international issues and remarkable progress has been scored in bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, culture, science, technology and education. I feel very pleased to visit your country against this backdrop. I am convinced that the visit will definitely promote China-France relations. I would also like to take this opportunity to ask your newspaper to convey the cordial greetings and best wishes of the Chinese people and myself to the French people.
Now I would like to take your questions.
Rousselin: Mr. Premier, your upcoming visit to France and Europe is very delighting. While bilateral cooperation is continuously deepened, we have to note there are also some aspects that are disappointing to the Chinese side, such as the arms embargo against China and the re-imposition of the quota system to Chinese textile products last summer. What's your comment on these questions and can you solve the problems through the visit? What measures do you expect Europe to take?
Wen Jiabao: The lift of arms embargo against China and the recognition of China's full market economy status are only a matter of time. Many European countries, France in particular, hold a very positive and clear attitude toward these two issues. To lift arms embargo against China and to recognize China's full market economy status are not only in the common interest of both China and Europe, but also conducive to the development of China-Europe comprehensive strategic partnership. We hope France can make continued efforts to this end. I am convinced China-Europe comprehensive strategic partnership can surely withstand the test of time and history.
Rousselin: The people in France are very concerned about the rapid growth of China's economy and they are particularly worried about the loss of job opportunities within their own country. How would you dismiss their concerns?
Wen Jiabao: The French people do not need to worry about this. China's economic growth is conducive not only to the Chinese people, but also to the people in Europe and the whole world. I would like to stress two points. First, China's economic growth is mainly driven by domestic demand and to expand domestic demand is our long-term strategic guideline. With a population of 1.3 billion, China is the largest developing country in the world and boasts a huge domestic market. In 2004, the sales of social consumables and materials of production in China nearly topped 2 trillion US dollars. With the further expansion of China's economy and the increase of people's incomes, domestic demand is expected to grow further. This is conducive not only to the development of China's own economy, but also to China-France economic cooperation and the creation of more jobs in France. Second, China-France economic and trade cooperation has been constantly expanded in recent years. France exports to China account for around 8 billion US dollars annually and the figure is expected to go up with each passing year. Many large French corporations have taken root in China and more and more small and medium-sized enterprises are also coming to China for development. The cooperation between China and France in nuclear power, aviation, high-speed locomotives as well as environmental protection and agriculture enable France to boost its exports not only in commodities, but also in equipment and technology. Large supermarkets like Carrefour sell a wide range of products in China, from cosmetics to bags to wine, and have gained huge profits. At the same time, Chinese businesses are also starting to invest in France. I believe that the development of China-France mutually beneficial cooperation in economy and trade will exert a positive influence on employment in both countries.
Rousselin: France and the US are competing to provide China with the new generation of nuclear power technology. When will China make the decision and will it choose multiple partners?
Wen Jiabao: China and France enjoy the longest history in the cooperation on nuclear power. The Dayawan and Ling'ao Nuclear Power Stations are great examples of bilateral cooperation in the area. China is actively developing nuclear power. By the year 2020, the total installed capacity of China's nuclear power will reach 40 million KW and another 18 million KW will be under construction then. Meanwhile, China's nuclear power technology is being upgraded from the second to the third generation. To this end, we need to enhance cooperation with other countries in the area of nuclear power. France boasts advantages in both nuclear power technology and equipment. Therefore bilateral cooperation in this area enjoys a bright prospect. As far as I know, the bidding for the introduction of the third generation of nuclear technology and facilities is still ongoing and I hope France can increase its competitiveness and win the bid. China would like to conduct all-round cooperation with France in nuclear fuels, nuclear power generation, nuclear safety and nuclear waste processing.
Mével: Mr. Premier, you mentioned French companies need to increase their competitiveness. Does that mean France's quotation is too high?
Wen Jiabao: Competitiveness should be looked at from a comprehensive perspective. The bidding has entered into a critical period of time now. The evaluation of the bidders will be objective, fair and transparent. If France can submit more competitive schemes, including preferential conditions in quotation and technology transfer, it will help France win the bid.
Mével: You mentioned safety problems when you talked about nuclear power. I know you are also an engineer yourself and so you give top priority to the issue. Recently two serious accidents involving unsafe production occurred in China. One is the mine explosion. We are wondering if the Chinese government has met some difficulty in carrying out the minimum safety standard for production? The other is the water pollution in the Songhua River. It seems that the Chinese government did not inform the public and Russia until the last minute. What measures will the Chinese government take to avoid similar serious accidents in the future?
Wen Jiabao: These two accidents were important alarms for us. We need to give more priority to safe production and environmental protection. We need to attach more importance to increasing our capacity in dealing with emergency situations. As a government responsible to its people, we always put people's lives, health and security in the first place.
In the area of mining safety, we are doing three things. First, to address the gas problem. Second, to shut down disqualified small-scale coalmines. Third, to enhance safety management in mining.
When dealing with the severe water pollution accident of the Songhua River, we need to do four things. First, to strictly monitor the pollution in the Songhua River basin and inform the public timely. Second, to take effective measures to ensure the safety of the drinking water for the people along the banks. Third, to start studying and implementing the mid- and long-term plans for the governance of the Songhua River. Fourth, to enhance cooperation with Russia. We are willing to provide Russia with every means of assistance, including information and equipment.
As for nuclear power, safety is of supreme importance. If any safety problem takes place in nuclear power, the impact and damage will be huge. We would like to enhance cooperation with France in nuclear power safety management.
Rousselin: What is your comment on the turbulence in France recently? There are also some social problems in China. How will China reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, the disparity between different regions and the imbalance between urban and rural areas?
Wen Jiabao: We are greatly concerned of the recent turbulence in France. We believe that the French government is able to deal with it properly. At present the turbulence is quieting down. We hope that the French society can maintain its stability and prosperity.
The problem you mentioned is very important. There are two problems that China has to tackle. One is the problem of economic development. We will liberate and develop the productivity through reform and develop our economy through reform. Without the economy as the foundation, it is hard to realize the social justice and equity. The other problem is to strive for the realization of the social justice and equity, without which, there will be no stability of the whole society. To this end, we will take such measures as follows:
First, we will make continuous efforts to gradually resolve the problems such as the uneven development between urban and rural areas and between different regions and the disharmony between mankind and the nature. The reform of tax reduction and exemption in rural areas will enter a new phase next year when we will exempt farmers from all agricultural taxes. It is well known that the agricultural tax has existed in China for more than 2000 years. The Ministry of Finance will make a transfer payment of over 100 billion RMB.
Second, we will strengthen the infrastructure construction in rural areas, including roads, electric power, communications, drinking water safety and methane. We will realize an important transformation of infrastructure investment from city-centered approach to a more village-oriented approach.
Third, the tuitions and incidental expenses paid by rural students will be exempted within two years from next year so as to realize the compulsory education in its real sense. There are 200 million primary and secondary students in China, among whom 80% come from the rural areas. We should help all children grow up and progress in the same blue sky.
With regard to the regional development, we will intensify our efforts to develop the western region and continue to implement the strategy of rejuvenating the old industrial bases such as the northeastern one. The treatment plans we formulated for environmental protection and ecological environment will focus upon the building of the protection forest system and the conversion of arable land to forestry in the northwest, northeast and north of China as well as the treatment of three rivers and three lakes, including Liao River, Haihe River, Huaihe River, Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake and Dianchi Lake. Meanwhile we will strengthen the construction of sewage processing projects in urban areas and reduce the pollution in rural areas mainly through the improvement of fertilization techniques and the implementation of testing soil for formulated fertilization.
We have met many difficulties in the process of development, some of which are predicable and some of which can hardly be predicted. But we are not afraid of them and we will grasp the nettle in a bold spirit to solve the existing problems.
Mével: After your visit to Europe, you will go to Kuala Lumpur. Are you going to meet the Japanese Prime Minister separately or under the framework of meeting among leaders from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea?
Wen Jiabao: The question you put forward actually concerns China-Japan relations. As you know China-Japan relations are experiencing a tough period. Such outcome is not caused by the Chinese side. In 1895, Japan occupied Taiwan of China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. In the September 18th Incident of 1931, Japan invaded the three northeastern provinces of China. After the July 7 Incident of 1937, Japan launched the invasion war against China on a full scale. In 8-year hard war of resistance against Japan, the Chinese people made tremendous national sacrifices with the casualties up to 35 million.
The history of exchanges between China and Japan can date back to over 2000 years ago. The mainstream of the history is friendliness. In the long run, developing the friendly and good-neighborly relation between China and Japan is conducive to the fundamental interests of the two peoples.
Whether Japan can treat the history correctly is the sticking point of China-Japan relationship. However, some people in Japan glorify the militarism and do no admit the invasion history. The leaders of the Japanese government, in particular, paid homage to Yasukuni Shrine for many times, deeply hurting the emotions of Chinese and Asian peoples. It is our unswerving guideline to develop the long-term and stable China-Japan relations. This guideline was not changed even in the most difficult period. The Japanese government must abide by the principle of the three political documents governing bilateral relations including the Sino-Japan Joint Statement. We should take the history as a mirror and look into the future. But regrettably, the Japanese leaders still stick to their wrong positions, creating obstacles for the development of normal relations between China and Japan, especially for the contacts between leaders of the two countries. We hope that the Japanese leaders can take quick and actual actions to correct their mistakes for it will decide whether the leaders of the two countries can meet in Kuala Lumpur.
Rousselin: Do you think it is unnecessary for China to realize the democratization of the political system in the course of modernization?
Wen Jiabao: No, absolutely not. The reform and opening-up is the fundamental policy determining the fate of China. The reform in China is comprehensive. While conducting the reform of the economic system, we are also reforming the political system. Please remember two points: first, there is no socialism without democratization. Our socialist society is one dedicated to reform and opening up, constant development and improvement; second, without the guarantee of the reform of the political system, the reform of the economic system will not succeed. According to the actual situation of China, we will steadily push forward the reform of the political system to respect and protect the human rights, enable the people enjoy their democratic rights endowed by the constitution and the laws as well as their rights to participate in the democratic election, democratic decision-making, democratic administration and democratic supervision. We will promote the reform of the government to make it carry out decisions on a more democratic and scientific basis, administer public affairs according to laws and accept the supervision from the people. We will promote the reform of the judicial system to enable the court to make independent adjudications so as to better reflect the justice and equity.
Like many other countries, the development of democracy in China needs a process. I ever told my American friends that it took 100 years for the African Americans to obtain the voting rights from the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation by Lincoln in 1863 to the delivery of the speech I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King in 1963. China also needs time to promote the building of democracy in a country with the population of 1.3 billion.
After the French Revolution in 1789, a lot of enlightenment ideas of France were disseminated to China, exerting influence on one generation of progressive intellectuals in China. Democracy, fraternity and liberty were accepted by them. Yan Fu, the great thinker of China at that time raised the idea that the most important thing for a country is independence and the most important thing for a person is freedom. Like China fever in France from the 17th to the 19th century, many Chinese famous thinkers, revolutionists, litterateurs and artists went to France to seek new ideas in the early 20th century, including Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yi, Ba Jin, Qian Zhongshu, Xi Xinghai and Xu Beihong. The Chinese people made long-term and unremitting efforts to struggle for the national independence, freedom and liberation.
Our purpose is to build China into a prosperous, democratic and civilized country with socialist modernization. We will proceed from our national situation to constantly promote the building of democratic politics with Chinese characteristic.