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In case anyone was unclear, China is not planning to ditch socialism. Despite officials' apparent capitalistic canniness when it comes to issues like trade deficits, market competition, global investment, and ravenous retailing, China plans to stay true to its socialist principals, and will eschew Western capitalist systems, said Wu Bangguo, the second most powerful leader in the Communist Party. "To manage China's affairs well, we need to stay grounded in its realities, rely on the strength of the Chinese people, and follow a development path suited to China's conditions," he said in a report to the National People's Congress. Socialism "is the fundamental institutional guarantee for the development and progress of contemporary China, and we must cherish it even more, and adhere to it for a long time to come."
