China’s Xi calls for patience as Communist Party tries to reverse economic slump

By JOE McDONALD
AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for patience in a speech released as the ruling Communist Party tries to reverse a deepening economic slump and said the West’s pursuit of material wealth led to “spiritual poverty.” Xi’s speech was published by Qiushi, the party’s top theoretical journal, after data showed consumer and factory activity weakened further in July despite official promises to support struggling entrepreneurs. The government skipped giving an update on a politically sensitive spike in unemployment among young people. Xi called for China to “build a socialist ideology with strong cohesion” and to focus on long-term goals of improving education, health care and food supplies.