The stimulus plan would be enormous for any country, let alone one whose gross domestic product is lower than most other major (industrialized) countries, at around $3.5 trillion this year. Earlier this year, the United States Congress passed a $700 billion (bailout )package in a country with an economy whose size is close to $14 trillion.
The announcement came less than a week before President Hu Jintao is (scheduled) to travel to Washington for a global economic (summit meeting) that will be attended by world leaders and hosted by President Bush. There, China is expected to be pressed by world leaders to do its part to help (strengthen) the global economy in the face of what some economists say is the worst financial crisis since the (Great Depression).