Inclusive growth

President Hu Jintao's recent remarks on "inclusive growth" are sparking high expectations as a further sign that the Chinese leadership is refining its perspective on development. There could be no better message to add optimism to this National Day holiday.

For excited economists - particularly those who had roles in putting forward the idea - the fact that the concept has found its way into Chinese official lexicon is something to celebrate in itself. This is not a simple matter of a scholarly proposal being embraced by administrators. It may betoken a strategic shift in the way a country of 1.3 billion people defines progress and its approach to growth.

Hu adopted and expounded the concept, created and advocated first by Asian Development Bank economists, in an international context, while addressing ministers of human resources from across the Asia-Pacific area. Inclusive growth in that context, according to Hu, means to let all countries, regions and groups benefit from the fruit of economic globalization and development. This is at the same time a statement of the Chinese commitment to common prosperity and a passionate call for countries to share growth opportunities.