Chinese president Hu Jintao warned that his country’s competitiveness and trade strength are being threatened by sustained global economic downturn, testing the grip of the ruling Communist Party.

Hu made the warning at a Saturday meeting of the Politburo, the Party’s 25-member inner-council, which dwelt on the challenges China faces as export demand drops, forcing companies to shed workers, the Xinhua news agency reported.

His blunt words suggested China sees no quick end to worsening conditions, which this week led a state thinktank to forecast annual growth will slow to 8 per cent this quarter from 9 per cent in the third quarter, skidding close to the minimum 7 per cent officials see as safe for maintaining social stability. “In this coming period, we will starkly confront the effects of the sustained deepening of the international financial crisis and pressure as global economic growth clearly slows,” Hu told the senior officials.

The slowdown is “clearly reducing external demand and exerting pressure to steadily weaken our country’s traditional competitive advantages,” Hu said. The president’s comments are the latest in a string of official warnings about the country’s once breathless growth record, and Hu stressed that potential problems are social and political, as well as economic.