BEIJING, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- China wants better ties with Hong Kong and Macao and will heed their advice in drafting China's next five-year plan, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday.
"The central government will stick to the principles of 'one country, two systems,' 'Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong,' and 'Macao people governing Macao,' while giving a high degree of autonomy to the two special administrative regions," the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Wen as saying after separate meetings with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang and Macao Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On.
Beijing will continue to support Hong Kong's position as a financial, trade and shipping center, Wen said.
It also hoped Macao, a former Portuguese colony, would improve its governance in the coming year, he said.
Five-year plans in China are a series of economic-development initiatives shaped by the Chinese Communist Party. The party plays a key role in mapping strategies, setting growth targets and launching reforms.
The next five-year plan, China's 12th, runs from 2011 to 2015 and will seek to rebalance the country's economy by shifting its emphasis to domestic consumption from investment and exports, and to rural and inland development from urban and coastal growth, Beijing says.
The plan will also seek stronger environmental protections and create new social safety nets to keep poor people from falling below a certain poverty level, the government said.
