Hu stresses socialism with Chinese characteristics

Hu Jintao called on the 73 million members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people to hold high the "great banner of socialism with Chinese Characteristics" in their strive for building "a moderately prosperous society in all aspects." The theme of the congress is "to hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, follow the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents, thoroughly apply the Scientific Outlook on Development, continue to emancipate the mind, persist in reform and opening up, pursue development in a scientific way, promote social harmony, and strive for new victories in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects," Hu said.

Hu says China experiences "extraordinary" five years of achievements, difficulties

China has experienced an extraordinary period over the past five years, when the Party guided the people to overcome hardships and attained achievements, Hu Jintao said."The five years since the 16th Congress was an extraordinary period," In order to accomplish the arduous tasks of reform and development in a complicated and volatile international situation, he said, the Party led the people of all ethnic groups overcome difficulties and risks under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the thought of Three Represents, creating a new situation in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and attaining a new realm in adapting Marxism to conditions in China.Hu reviewed that China's economic strength increased substantially, with the GDP expanding by an annual average rate of over 10 percent in the past five years.Hu said that major breakthroughs were made in reform and opening up, people's living standards improved significantly, with the system of subsistence allowances for urban and rural residents basically in place, which guarantees basic living conditions for the poor.Fresh progress was registered in improving democracy and the legal system, a new situation was created in cultural development, and social development proceeded in an all-round way, and the new undertaking to build the Party achieved solid progress, Hu said.During the past five years, historic achievements were made in the development of national defense, and the armed forces were reduced by 200,000 troops, he said.Meanwhile, Hu stressed that "the achievements still fall short of the expectations of the people and that there are still quite a few difficulties and problems on our way forward."The outstanding problems and difficulties include:-- The economic growth is realized at an excessively high cost of resources and the environment.-- There remains an imbalance in development between urban and rural areas, among regions, and between the economy and society.-- It has become more difficult to bring about a steady growth of agriculture and continued increase in farmers' incomes.-- There are still many problems affecting people's immediate interests in areas such as employment, social security, income distribution, education, public health, housing, work safety, administration of justice and public order; and some low-income people lead a rather difficult life.-- More efforts are needed to promote ideological and ethical progress.-- The governance capability of the Party falls somewhat short of the need to deal with the new situation and tasks.-- Some primary Party organizations are weak and lax. A small number of Party cadres are not honest and upright, their formalism and bureaucratism are quite conspicuous, and extravagance, waste, corruption and other undesirable behavior are still serious problems with them."We must pay close attention to these problems and continue our efforts to solve them," Hu said.

Hu highlights efforts by predecessors, vowing to carry on reform, opening up

Hu Jintao underlined endeavors by the past three generations of central collective leadership in founding and prospering the New China, and vowed to carry on the great cause of reform and opening up in the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics.Historic changes have taken place in the visages of the Chinese people, socialist China and the Communist Party of China (CPC) since 1978, when the Party ushered in the new historical period of reform and opening up, Hu said. He stressed that the course of reform and opening up, which is about to mark the 30th anniversary next year, was conducted on a foundation laid by the Party's first generation of central collective leadership with Mao Zedong at its core.The Party's second generation of central collective leadership headed by Deng Xiaoping initiated the great course, which was carried on, developed and successfully carried into the 21st century by the Party's third generation of central collective leadership with Jiang Zemin at the core, Hu said.Since the 16th Party congress five years ago, the reform and opening up have been carried forward in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, following the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the thought of Three Represents, he said.Reform and opening up constitute the most salient feature of the new period, which witnessed rapid development, according to Hu."China's economy, once on the verge of collapse, now ranks as the fourth largest in the world, and its import and export volume becomes the third biggest. The Chinese people, once inadequately fed and clad, are leading a fairly comfortable life on the whole," Hu said."The impoverished population in rural areas has dropped from more than 250 million to just over 20 million," he added.Hu said keeping up with the times is the most prominent hallmark in the new period, when the Party has been adapting Marxism to Chinese conditions while enriching its own basic theory.Reform and opening up "accord with the aspirations of the Party membership and the people and keep up with the trend of the times. The orientation and path of reform and opening up are entirely correct," Hu said.Hu called on the whole Party to continue to emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts, keep up with the times, make bold changes and innovations, stay away from rigidity or stagnation, fear no risks, never be confused by any interference, in the course of reform and opening up.

Hu: Scientific Outlook on Development part of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics

Hu Jintao said that the Scientific Outlook on Development initiated by the 16th CPC Central Committee in 2003 is part of the theories of Socialism with Chinese characteristics that stands along with Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents."Theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics constitute a system of scientific theories including Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development and other major strategic thoughts," Hu said.This system represents the Party's adherence to and development of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought and embodies the wisdom and hard work of several generations of Chinese Communists leading the people in carrying out tireless explorations and practices, Hu said."It is the latest achievement in adapting Marxism to Chinese conditions, the Party's invaluable political and intellectual asset, and the common ideological foundation for the concerted endeavor of the people of all ethnic groups. It is an open system that keeps developing," Hu said.He noted that practices since the publication of the Communist Manifesto nearly 160 years ago have proved that only when Marxism is integrated with the conditions of a specific country, advances in step with the times and is tied to the destiny of the people can it demonstrate its strong vitality, creativity and appeal. In contemporary China, to stay true to Marxism means to adhere to the system of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics.Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents have been put in the Party charter in previous CPC national congresses and enshrined in the country's Constitution thereafter.

Hu Jintao proposes Scientific Outlook on Development for tackling China's Immediate woes, challenges

The latest theoretical development by the Communist Party of China (CPC) has been raised by the Central leadership in view of China's present preliminary stage of socialism to cope with many immediate challenges and woes for sustainable progress.Hu Jintao expounded  on the political concept, which was put forward in 2003, in the political report to the 17th CPC National Congress. "In light of the basic reality that China is in the primary stage of socialism, the Scientific Outlook on Development has been formulated to meet new requirements of development by analyzing China's own practice and drawing on the experience of other countries in development," Hu told more than 2,000 delegates at the live telecast meeting.Some of the major features of the preliminary stage include:-- The economic strength has increased markedly, but the overall productivity remains low, the capacity for independent innovation is weak, and the long-standing structural problems and the extensive mode of growth are yet to be fundamentally addressed.-- The socialist market economy is basically in place, but there remain structural and institutional obstacles slowing down development, and further reform in difficult areas is confronted with deep-seated problems.-- A relatively comfortable standard of living has been achieved for the people as a whole, but the trend of a growing gap in income distribution has not been thoroughly reversed, there are still a considerable number of impoverished and low-income people in both urban and rural areas, and it has become more difficult to accommodate the interests of all sides.-- Efforts to balance development have yielded remarkable results, but the foundation of agriculture remains weak, the rural areas still lag behind in development, and the country faces an arduous task to narrow the urban-rural and interregional gaps in development and promote balanced economic and social development.-- Socialist democracy has continued to develop and we have made steady progress in implementing the rule of law as a fundamental principle, but efforts to improve democracy and the legal system fall somewhat short of the need to expand people's democracy and promote economic and social development, and political restructuring has to be deepened.-- Socialist culture is thriving as never before, but the people have growing cultural needs and have become more independent, selective, changeable and diverse in thinking, setting higher requirements for the development of an advanced socialist culture.-- The society has become evidently more dynamic, but profound changes have taken place in the structure of society, in the way society is organized and in the pattern of social interests, and many new issues have emerged in social development and management.-- China is opening wider to the outside world, but international competition is becoming increasingly acute, pressure in the form of the economic and scientific dominance of developed countries will continue for a long time to come, both predictable and unpredictable risks are increasing, and the need to balance domestic development and opening to the outside world is greater than ever.All the above-mentioned features boil down to the fact that "the reality that China is still in the primary stage of socialism and will remain so for a long time to come has not changed," he said."Stressing recognition of the basic reality is not meant to belittle ourselves, wallow in backwardness, or encourage unrealistic pursuit of quick results," Hu said. "Rather, such recognition will serve as the basis of our endeavor to advance reform and plan for development."The cure for such challenges and woes lies in the Scientific Outlook on Development, which Hu said it "takes development as its essence, putting people first as its core, comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development as its basic requirement, and overall consideration as its fundamental approach."Hu said to thoroughly apply the Scientific Outlook on Development "we must work energetically to build a harmonious socialist society," which features democracy and the rule of law, equity and justice, honesty and fraternity, vigor and vitality, stability and order, and harmony between man and nature.""We will spare no effort to solve the most specific problems of the utmost and immediate concern to the people and strive to create a situation in which all people do their best, find their proper places in society and live together in harmony, so as to provide a favorable social environment for development," Hu said.

Hu sets goal of quadrupling per capita GDP under environment, resource restrictions

China's per capita GDP is expected to be quadrupled by the year 2020 against 2000, Hu Jintao said. But the rapid growth will be under the condition of reduced consumption of resources and greater efforts in environment protection, Hu said. "We will quadruple the per capita GDP of the year 2000 by 2020 through optimizing the economic structure and improving economic returns while reducing consumption of resources and protecting the environment," he said.This goal is much higher than the target set by the CPC five years ago at the 16th National Congress, which was to quadruple the GDP value, without the mention of per capita, by 2020, observers noted.Five years ago, the 16th CPC National Congress outlined the task to quadruple GDP of the year 2000 by 2020 through optimizing the economic structures and improving efficiency.China's GDP has kept growing at a speed of over 10 percent for four consecutive years and topped 20 trillion yuan (2.7 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2006.But the fast economic growth has been realized "at an excessively high cost of resources and the environment," Hu acknowledged.Per capita GDP stood at 2,042 U.S. dollars in 2006, up 339 U.S. dollars, or nearly 20 percent, over that of the previous year, according to He Chuanqi, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Innovation tops Hu Jintao's economic agenda

Hu Jintao underscored the task of enhancing China's capacity of independent innovation and making it an innovative country. "This (innovation) is the core of our national development strategy and a crucial link in enhancing the overall national strength," said Hu. He pledged to increase spending on independent innovation and make breakthroughs in key technologies vital to economic and social development, saying China will speed up forming a national innovation system and support basic research, research in frontier technology and technological research for public welfare.He said the country will step up efforts to establish a market-oriented system for technological innovation, in which enterprises play the leading role, and encourage formation of internationally competitive conglomerates.China will "support domestic enterprises in carrying out international operations of R&D, production and marketing, and accelerate the growth of Chinese multinational corporations and Chinese brand names in the world market," he said.Hu also vowed to deepen reform of the system for managing science and technology, implement the strategy for intellectual property rights, and make the best use of international resources of science and technology.Other major measures listed by Hu to achieve economic development include accelerating transformation of the mode of economic development and promoting upgrading of the industrial structure, balancing urban and rural development and pushing forward the building of a new socialist countryside, improving energy, resources, ecological and environmental conservation and enhance China's capacity for sustainable development.Hu stressed that China will uphold and improve the basic economic system in which public ownership is dominant and different economic sectors develop side by side, unwaveringly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy, unswervingly encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public sector, ensure equal protection of property rights, and create a new situation in which all economic sectors compete on an equal footing and reinforce each other.China "will deepen the reform of monopoly industries by introducing competition, and strengthen government regulation and public oversight of them," and accelerate the formation of a modern market system that is unified and open and that allows orderly competition, develop markets for factors of production, improve the pricing mechanism for factors of production and resources to reflect changes in market supply and demand, resource scarcities and environmental costs, according to Hu.Hu also set forth the tasks of promoting balanced development among regions and improving the pattern of land development, deepening fiscal, taxation and financial restructuring and improving macroeconomic regulation, and expanding opening up in scope and depth.

Hu Promises to promote more non-Communists to leading positions

With the recent promotion of two non-Communists to cabinet ministers, Hu Jintao pledged that the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) plans to add more people outside of the Party to leading government positions.Hu said that the Party will "select and recommend a greater number of outstanding non-CPC persons for leading positions."Wan Gang and Chen Zhu, now minister of science and technology and minister of health, have been the first non-Communist cabinet appointments since the late 1970s when China launched its economic reform and opening up.Wan Gang, a member of the China Zhi Gong (Public Interest) Party, replaced 65-year-old Xu Guanhua as Minister of Science and Technology in April 2007.A former automobile engineer at the Audi Corporation in Germany, Wan, born in August 1952, was president of the Shanghai-based Tongji University before his appointment.China's top legislature approved the cabinet nomination of Chen Zhu, 54, a Paris-trained scientist with no political party affiliation, as the country's new health minister in June 2007.Political observers have said that to appoint non-CPC member cabinet minister is an important move in implementing and improving the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC.According to Hu, such a move is also part of the efforts to "expand the patriotic united front and unite with all forces that can be united.""Promoting harmony in relations between political parties, between ethnic groups, between religions, between social strata, and between our compatriots at home and overseas plays an irreplaceable role in enhancing unity and pooling strengths," he said.Acting on the principle of long-term coexistence, mutual oversight, sincere treatment of each other and the sharing of weal and woe, "we will strengthen our cooperation with the democratic parties, support them and personages without party affiliation in better performing their functions of participation in the deliberation and administration of state affairs and democratic oversight," he said.

Hu Jintao advocates "conservation culture" for first time in keynote political document

China will promote conservation culture while moving to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, said Hu Jintao when delivering a political report at the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which is believed to be the first time that China calls for conservation culture in a keynote political document."(We will) promote a conservation culture by basically forming an energy- and resource-efficient and environment-friendly structure of industries, pattern of growth and mode of consumption," said Hu at the opening ceremony of the CPC National Congress."Awareness of conservation will be firmly established in the whole of society," Hu said.Hu added that China will have a large-scale circular economy and considerably increase the proportion of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption, bring the discharge of major pollutants under effective control and notably improve ecological and environmental quality.Hu said China's economic growth is realized at an excessively high cost of resources and the environment, before listing other difficulties and problems that hinder China's development."We must give prominence to building a resource-conserving, environment-friendly society in our strategy for industrialization and modernization and get every organization and family to act accordingly," Hu said.

Hu Jintao vows to expand people's democracy

Hu Jintao pledged to expand the people's democracy and ensure that they are masters of the country."People's democracy is the lifeblood of socialism," Hu said in his report. Saying that the essence and core of socialist democracy -- a goal that the Party has been consistently pursuing -- are that the people are masters of the country, Hu proposed that both urban and rural areas gradually adopt the same ratio of deputies to the represented population in the election of deputies to the people's congresses.To ensure scientific and democratic decision-making, Hu called for improving the information and intellectual support for it, increasing its transparency and expanding public participation in it. In principle, public hearings must be held for the formulation of laws, regulations and policies that bear closely on the interests of the public.Hu pointed out that the most effective and extensive way for the people to be masters of the country is that they directly exercise democratic rights in accordance with the law to manage public affairs and public service programs at the primary level, practice self-management, self-service, self-education and self-oversight, and exercise democratic oversight over cadres. Such practices must be emphasized and promoted as the groundwork for developing socialist democracy.He called on Party organizations at all levels and all Party members to act under the Constitution and laws on their own initiative and take the lead in upholding the authority of the Constitution and laws.Hu also promised to accelerate the separation of the functions of the government from those of enterprises, state assets management authorities, public institutions and market-based intermediaries, standardize administrative practices, strengthen administrative law-enforcement agencies, reduce the number of matters requiring administrative examination and approval and standardize such procedures, and reduce government intervention in microeconomic operations.He urged to improve the mechanism of restraint and supervision, stressing that "power must be exercised in the sunshine to ensure that it is exercised correctly". He said organic laws and rules of procedure should be improved to ensure that state organs exercise their powers and perform their functions within their statutory jurisdiction and in accordance with legal procedures.As an important part of China's overall reform, political restructuring must be constantly deepened along with economic and social development to adapt to the growing enthusiasm of the people for participation in political affairs, Hu emphasized."Democracy will keep developing along with the progress of socialism," said Hu, expressing the belief that in the historical course of developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, Chinese Communists and the Chinese people will surely advance socialist democracy.

Hu Jintao vows to "reverse growing income disparity"

In a keynote speech to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Hu Jintao said that China will deepen reform of the income distribution system to reverse the growing income disparity in the country."We will increase transfer payments, intensify the regulation of incomes through taxation, break business monopolies, create equal opportunities, and overhaul income distribution practices with a view to gradually reversing the growing income disparity," he told more than 2,000 delegates to the congress that opened Monday morning.He stressed that equitable income distribution is an important indication of social equity.A reasonable and orderly pattern of income distribution will be basically in place, with middle-income people making up the majority and absolute poverty basically eliminated, Hu pledged in the report on behalf of the 16th CPC Central Committee."Vigorous efforts will be made to raise the income of low-income groups, gradually increase poverty-alleviation aid and the minimum wage, and set up a mechanism of regular pay increases for enterprise employees," Hu said.He pledged that conditions will be created to enable more citizens to have property income, and the Party will protect lawful incomes, regulate excessively high incomes and ban illegal gains.Hu also detailed other plans for social development with the focus on improving people's livelihood, to ensure that all the people enjoy their rights to education, employment, medical and old-age care, and housing, so as to build a harmonious society:-- To promote balanced development of compulsory education, move faster toward universal access to senior secondary education, a step further from the current 9-year compulsory education. The country will also work to ensure that children from poor families and of rural migrant workers in cities enjoy equal access to compulsory education as other children.-- To establish a unified, standardized labor market and a mechanism that ensures equal employment opportunities for both urban and rural residents. The country will also improve employment assistance to the needy and make it a priority to help zero-employment families to have job opportunities.-- To step up the building of a sound social security system that is based on social insurance, assistance and welfare, with basic old-age pension, basic medical care and subsistence allowances as its backbone, and supplemented by charity and commercial insurance. The country will also improve the low-rent housing system and speed up resolution of the housing difficulties of low-income families in urban areas.-- To maintain the public welfare nature of public medical and health care services, always put disease prevention first, center on rural areas and attach equal importance to traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

Hu Jintao calls for enhancing "soft power" of Chinese culture

While charting ambitious goals of economic and social developments for the 1.3 billion people in the next five years and by 2020, Hu Jintao also stressed the need to enhance Chinese culture as the country's "soft power" in his keynote speech to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC)."Culture has become a more and more important source of national cohesion and creativity and a factor of growing significance in the competition in overall national strength," Hu said .We must "enhance culture as part of the soft power of our country to better guarantee the people's basic cultural rights and interests," he said.Some highlights of his proposed methods in this regard include:-- to step up the development of the press, publishing, radio, film, television, literature and art, give correct guidance to the public and foster healthy social trends;-- to strengthen efforts to develop and manage Internet culture and foster a good cyber environment;-- to continue to develop nonprofit cultural programs as the main approach to ensuring the basic cultural rights and interests of the people, increase spending on such programs, and build more cultural facilities in urban communities and rural areas;-- to vigorously develop the cultural industry, launch major projects to lead the industry as a whole, speed up the development of cultural industry bases and clusters of cultural industries with regional features, nurture key enterprises and strategic investors, create a thriving cultural market and enhance the industry's international competitiveness;-- to establish a national system of honors for outstanding cultural workers.Hu said that Chinese culture has been an unfailing driving force for the Chinese nation to keep its unity and make progress from generation to generation."The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will definitely be accompanied by the thriving of Chinese culture," he said.

Hu Jintao appeals for "peace agreement" with Taiwan

With secessionist activities stepped up in Taiwan island and cross-Straits relations in jeopardy at present, Hu Jintao called for discussion with the Taiwan side on a formal end to the state of hostility and to reach a peace agreement under the condition of one-China principle."Here we would like to make a solemn appeal: On the basis of the one-China principle, let us discuss a formal end to the state of hostility between the two sides, reach a peace agreement, construct a framework for peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, and thus usher in a new phase of peaceful development," Hu said in a report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China."At present, the forces for 'Taiwan independence' are stepping up their secessionist activities, seriously jeopardizing the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations," Hu told more than 2,000 delegates to the congress that opened Monday morning.

Hu: China to modernize army for self-defense, world peace

With the completion of reducing 200,000 troops, China is to speed up the pace of modernizing its armed forces in the next five years and more, for self-defense and maintaining world peace.Hu Jintao made the remarks on behalf of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in a keynote speech at the 17th CPC National Congress. Hu said, "We must implement the military strategy for the new period, accelerate the revolution in military affairs with Chinese characteristics, ensure military preparedness, and enhance the military's capability to respond to various security threats and accomplish diverse military tasks."We are determined to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and make contributions to maintaining world peace," Hu pledged."Bearing in mind the overall strategic interests of national security and development, we must take both economic development and national defense into consideration and make our country prosperous and our armed forces powerful while building a moderately prosperous society in all respects," Hu said.Hu stressed that China must always adhere to "the fundamental principle of the Party exercising absolute leadership over the armed forces and the fundamental purpose of the armed forces serving the people."To attain the strategic objective of building computerized armed forces and winning IT-based warfare, Hu said China will accelerate the composite development of mechanization and computerization, carry out military training under IT-based conditions, intensify our efforts to train a new type of high-caliber military personnel in large numbers and change the mode of generating combat capabilities.China will "enhance our capacity for independent innovation in R&D of weapons and equipment with better quality and cost-effectiveness," he said.China will establish sound systems of weapons and equipment research and manufacturing, military personnel training and logistics that integrate military with civilian purposes and combine military efforts with civilian support, build the armed forces through diligence and thrift, and blaze a path of development with Chinese characteristics featuring military and civilian integration, according to Hu.

Hu Jintao calls for building harmonious world

People of all countries should work together in building a harmonious world, Hu Jintao said in his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). "We maintain that the people of all countries should join hands and strive to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity," said Hu on behalf of the 16th CPC Central Committee.Peace and development remain the main themes of the present era, and pursuit of peace, development and cooperation has become an irresistible trend of the times, Hu said.At the same time, the world remains far from tranquil and world peace and development faces many difficulties and challenges, Hu said.Sharing opportunities for development and rising to challenges together so as to further the cause of peace and development of humanity is the fundamental interests of the people of all countries and meet their common aspirations, Hu said.To this end, Hu proposed that all countries uphold the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, observe international law and universally recognized norms of international relations, and promote democracy, harmony, collaboration and win-win solutions in international relations.-- Politically, all countries should respect each other and conduct consultations on an equal footing in a common endeavor to promote democracy in international relations.-- Economically, they should cooperate with each other, draw on each other's strengths and work together to advance economic globalization in the direction of balanced development, shared benefits and win-win progress.-- Culturally, they should learn from each other in the spirit of seeking common ground while shelving differences, respect the diversity of the world, and make joint efforts to advance human civilization.-- In the area of security, they should trust each other, strengthen cooperation, settle international disputes by peaceful means rather than by war, and work together to safeguard peace and stability in the world.-- On environmental issues, they should assist and cooperate with each other in conservation efforts to take good care of the Earth, the only home of human beings.Hu said that whatever changes take place in the international situation, the Chinese government and people will always hold high the banner of peace, development and cooperation, pursue an independent foreign policy of peace, safeguard China's interests in terms of sovereignty, security and development, and uphold its foreign policy purposes of maintaining world peace and promoting common development.Reiterating that China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development, Hu said China opposes terrorism, hegemonism and power politics in any form and does not engage in arms race or pose a military threat to any other country, and will never seek hegemony or engage in expansion.Pointing out that China cannot develop in isolation from the rest of the world, nor can the world enjoy prosperity and stability without China, Hu said "China will never seek benefits for itself at the expense of other countries or shift its troubles onto others."

Hu against arbitrary decision-making in the Party

Efforts should be made to oppose and prevent arbitrary decision-making by an individual or a minority of people in the Party, Hu Jintao said in his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The Party will strictly implement democratic centralism, improve the system that combines collective leadership with division of responsibilities among individuals, said Hu on behalf of the 16th CPC Central Committee. He said local Party committees will adopt a voting system in discussing and deciding on major issues and appointing cadres to important positions.The Party will establish a sound system under which the Political Bureau of the Central Committee regularly reports its work to plenary sessions of the Central Committee and accepts their oversight, and the standing committees of local Party committees at all levels do likewise to plenary sessions of local Party committees and accept their oversight, Hu said.The Party will reform the intra-Party electoral system and improve the system for nominating candidates and electoral methods.Hu also vowed to gradually extend direct election of leading members in primary Party organizations, and explore various ways to expand intra-Party democracy at the primary level.

Hu Jintao: no tolerance to corruption

The Communist Party of China (CPC) bears zero tolerance to corruption and the crackdown on it must be effectively strengthened, Hu Jintao said in his report to the 17th CPC National Congress."The CPC never tolerates corruption or any other negative phenomena," said Hu on behalf of the 16th CPC Central Committee, stressing that "resolutely punishing and effectively preventing corruption is crucial to the popular support for the Party and its survival."Pointing out that fighting corruption will be a protracted, complicated and arduous battle, Hu called upon Party members to carry out the campaign in a comprehensive way, addressing both its symptoms and root cause and combining punishment with prevention.Resolutely cracking down on corruption, the Party should work harder to remove its root cause and take preventive measures through improving relevant institutions, Hu said.Since 2002 when the 16th CPC National Congress was convened, the Party has punished a large number of high-ranking officials, including former Shanghai Party Chief Chen Liangyu and China's former top statistician Qiu Xiaohua.Statistics show that more than 110,000 Party members were punished in 2005, accounting for 0.16 percent of all members. The number of being punished dropped to some 90,000 last year, about 0.14 percent of the total members.Founded in 1921, the Party has governed the country for 58 years since 1949, and its current membership totals more than 70 million.Saying that "the task of educating and managing its members has become more arduous than ever before," Hu expressed the confidence in fulfilling the three historical tasks of advancing the modernization drive, achieving national reunification, and safeguarding world peace and promoting common development.

(Xinhua News Agency October 15, 2007)