The overseas media has paid a lot of attention to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that started Monday, commenting positively on the report delivered by Hu Jintao.

The Lianhe Zaobao newspaper in Singapore dedicated two pages Tuesday to covering Hu's report, saying it summarized in a pragmatic manner the problems China faced in the past five years and pertinently pointed out the thoughts and attitudes of this generation of the CPC leadership.

In an editorial published on the same day, the Lianhe Zaobao said the CPC leadership, with Hu as general secretary of its Central Committee, upheld such human-oriented governing ideas as giving top priority to the people and cherishing peace and harmony. It said the report encouraged people to have higher expectations of China after the party congress.

In Indonesia, mainstream newspapers including the International Daily News, the Kompas and the Jakarta Post gave much space to the CPC congress.

The International Daily News said in an editorial that other developing nations including Indonesia could learn from such ideas as the Scientific Outlook on Development, building a harmonious society and narrowing the gap between the rich and poor initiated by China's leadership.

The Times of India said in an article Tuesday that Hu's report signaled China's readiness to step up economic development in its western and northern regions in the next five years in the bid to build a harmonious society, as well as its determination to fight corruption.

The Hindu newspaper of India reported that the core of Hu's report is to deepen reforms in China and build a harmonious society with a scientific approach.

The Indian Express said Hu's speech showcased programs of coordinated development in China's urban and rural areas.

Mongolia's Daily News on Tuesday called Hu's emphasis on preventing and combating corruption an anti-corruption declaration from the Chinese leader.

Mongolia's daily newspaper Onoodor said that Hu mentioned the word "democracy" a number of times in his report and the CPC is promoting democracy within the party.

The Unen newspaper of Mongolia reported the reform and opening up, building the well-off society and the Scientific Outlook on Development mentioned in Hu's report.

Canada's national daily Globe and Mail ran a front-page story Monday on Hu's report during the opening ceremony of the party congress.

The story highlighted that Hu promised to expand democracy within the CPC and improve democracy at a grass-roots level.

Hu also reiterated the country's consistent policy on the Taiwan issue, vowing to woo the island back to the fold through peaceful means, the story said.

Today Daily News, one of the largest Chinese newspapers in Canada, has been running full-page stories on the event and gave a detailed report on Hu's report in its Monday edition.

Brazil's mainstream media also spared no efforts in covering the event. O Globo carried a full-page story on the opening of the congress, saying the concepts such as "Scientific Outlook on Development" and "building a harmonious society" are the main topics of the congress, reflecting the CPC's commitment to curb pollution and combat corruption.

O Estado de Sao Paulo, another dominant newspaper in Brazil, said one of the topics of the congress is political reform, whose purpose is to improve socialist democracy.

Japan's Nippon Keizai Shimbun carried reports saying that Hu vowed to stick to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, while the Jiji news agency said Hu expressed the country's determination to build a resource-efficient and environmentally friendly society.

The Egyptian MENA news agency focused its reports on the opening of the congress and Hu's report, and paid great attention to China's further implementation of its future goals including "Scientific Outlook on Development," "building a harmonious society," "one country, two systems" and the country's great undertaking of peaceful national reunification.

Meanwhile, Egypt's largest Arabic newspaper Al Ahram carried reports on its front page on the opening of the congress.

The Chinese-version of the BBC website also reported on the congress and detailed Hu's report on the party's internal reform, economic construction, diplomacy and cross-strait relations.

In Italy, the mainstream media including Ansa news agency, daily Corriere della Sera and La Republica all covered the opening of the congress. Citing the report by Hu Jintao, they stated that under the leadership of the CPC China will stick to the path of sustainable development and the Scientific Outlook on Development in order to foment economic growth, alleviate poverty and promote social harmony.

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2007)