CHINA: Amid rising social tensions China's ruling Communist Party has introduced a new five-year plan that aims to provide a social safety net for those left behind in the country's economic boom.
Until now the focus has been on enlarging the world's seventh-biggest economy as quickly as possible, but the plan is likely to be more in line with President Hu Jintao's highly public drive for a "harmonious society".
The new proposal, approved by the plenary session of the 354-member Central Committee at the end of a four-day closed-door meeting, aims to improve social services and narrow the broadening wealth gap between rich and poor.
With one eye on popular uprisings which toppled governments in post-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia, improving China's social fabric is a priority for the Communist Party. There were 74,000 protests across the country last year, compared to 58,000 in 2003, many of them by disaffected farmers who felt they had failed to benefit from years of nearly double-digit economic growth.
The focus of Mr Hu's programme will be to cut the high cost of healthcare, education and public housing and reduce the number of urban unemployed.
Although Mr Hu has shown himself a supporter of more transparency and a strong opponent of corruption in public life, he has also overseen a crackdown on the internet and the media, and has dismissed calls for more democracy.
The plenum was his first as leader of the government, the party and the army since he replaced Jiang Zemin as head of the military. It was seen as a test of whether he would be able to consolidate his power.
It was still unclear whether Mr Hu succeeded in placing his protege and key ally, Li Keqiang (50), on the policymaking politburo.
Analysts say if Mr Hu succeeds, it would put Mr Li in a position where he could succeed him, making him China's fifth-generation leader after Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Mr Hu.
The plan will go to the National People's Congress in March, where the annual parliament is expected to approve it.
Separately, a grassroots democracy activist, Lu Banglie (35), who was beaten by a gang of 20 assailants in the southern town of Taishi at the weekend, is alive and well after the attack. There had been reports that he had been killed by hired thugs.