China’s Door to Trade Staying Open, West Told

Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang pledged Friday that Peking will never change its open-door policy toward trade with the West but said its reform program will slow down this year.

Speaking at a news conference after talks with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Hu said Western businessmen need have no fears that investment in trade with China could be put at risk by abrupt policy switches.

“We are not going to do anything to harm the principle of mutual benefit,” Hu said.

‘Facts Will Speak’

“If foreign companies are worried, let them wait a while and see. The facts will speak their own language.”

The Chinese party general secretary said Peking also remains fully committed to continuing its programs of internal reforms but will reduce their speed during the rest of 1986 and in 1987.

Before meeting Kohl, Hu addressed more than 350 West German businessmen and also gave them assurances that China would not return to the isolationism of earlier years.

‘Will Never Close’

“The open door to China will never be closed again,” he told the Bonn gathering, organized by the German Chamber of Industry and Trade.

At his news conference, Hu repeated earlier pledges to push a program of rejuvenation at the upper levels of the Communist Party and the state administration. He said the party congress next year will ensure that thousands of people leave their posts so that younger officials can move up into senior positions.