Party Congress Draws Blueprint for Nation: Opinion

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, November 10, 2002

Party Congress Draws Blueprint for Nation: Opinion

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Jiang Delivers Report as Party Congress Convenes

Under the eager gaze of the Chinese people and with the entire international community looking on, the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened its historical 16th National Congress at the Great Hall of the People Friday morning in Beijing.

Jiang Zemin, on behalf of the 15th Party Central Committee, delivered a keynote report at the opening session, vowing to fully act on the important policy of the "Three Represents'' and to forge ahead with construction of a well-off society in an all-round way.

Jiang defined the theme of the congress as: "To hold high the great banner of Deng Xiaoping Theory, and fully act on the important thought of the 'Three Represents'.''

Summing up experiences gained by the Party, Jiang said the Party must always represent the development trend of China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people, namely the "Three Represents.''

16th CPC National Congress opens in Beijing

He added the congress will carry forward the Party's cause, keep pace with the times, help build a well-off society and speed up socialist modernization.

His reading of the report, entitled "Build a well-off society in an all-round way and create a new situation in building socialism with Chinese characteristics,'' was punctuated by many rounds of warm applause.

The report consists of 10 parts: Namely "Work of the past five years and basic experience of 13 years;'' "Implementing the important thought of the `Three Represents' in an all-round way;'' "Objectives of building a well-off society in an all-round way;'' "Economic development and restructuring;'' "Political development and restructuring;'' "Cultural development and restructuring;'' "National defence and army building;'' "`One country, two systems' and complete national reunification;'' "The international situation and our external work'' and "Strengthening and improving Party building.''

While summarizing China's achievements during the last five years since the Party's 15th National Congress, and the experience of the Party over the past 13 years, Jiang said great progress has been achieved in various fields including the national economy, reform and opening up, socialist democracy and spiritual civilization, and national defence and army building.

"As is universally recognized, the past 13 years have been a period in which China's overall national strength has risen by a large margin, the people have received more tangible benefits than ever before, and China has enjoyed long-term social stability and solidarity and had a good government and a united people. China's influence in the world has grown notably, and the cohesion of the nation has increased remarkably,'' he told the 2,134 of the total 2,154 delegates present at the meeting.

In a thorough elaboration on the "Three Represents,'' he said the important theory, as a continuation and development of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, reflects what is now required of the Party and the State as they face changes in China and other parts of the world today.

The policy is a powerful theoretical weapon for strengthening and improving Party building and promoting self-improvement and the development of socialism in China, Jiang said.

As the crystallization of the Party's collective wisdom and a guiding ideology the Party must follow for a long time to come, the persistent implementation of the "Three Represents'' is the foundation for building the Party, the cornerstone of its governance and the source of its strength, Jiang stressed.

He said China will concentrate on building a well-off, high-standard society in an all-round way over the first 20 years of this century, much to the benefit of its over 1.3 billion people.

According to Jiang, the main tasks of China's economic development and reform in this period are to improve the socialist market economy, promote strategic adjustment of the economic structure, accomplish basic industrialization, energetically apply information technology, accelerate modernization, maintain a sustained, rapid and sound development of the national economy and steadily uplift the people's living standards.

He also stressed the importance of political development and restructuring by defining the main tasks as follows: Upholding and improving the systems of socialist democracy; improving the socialist legal system; reforming and improving the Party's style of leadership and governance; reforming and improving the decision-making mechanism; deepening administrative restructuring; promoting the reform of the judicial system; deepening the reform of the cadre and personnel system; and tightening the restraint on and supervision of the use of power.

On reunification of the motherland, Jiang said that "we firmly oppose all words and deeds aimed at creating `Taiwan independence,' `two Chinas' or `one China, one Taiwan'.

"We will never allow anyone to separate Taiwan from China in any way,'' he said.

"On the basis of the one-China principle, let us shelve for now certain political disputes and resume cross-Straits dialogue and negotiations as soon as possible,'' he said, stressing that "one country, two systems'' is the best approach to reunification.

In an in-depth analysis of the current international situation, Jiang pointed out that peace and development are the themes of this era, but the old international political and economic order, which is unfair and irrational, has yet to be fundamentally changed.

"No matter how the international situation changes, we will, as always, pursue the independent foreign policy of peace,'' Jiang said, noting that the CPC stands for establishing a new international political and economic order that is fair and rational and for maintaining the diversity of the world. He added the CPC promotes democracy in international relations and diverse development models, and stands against terrorism of all forms.

Jiang underlined the importance of Party building in the last part of his report, saying that it is necessary to study and implement the important thought of the "Three Represents'' intensively and raise all Party members' level of Marxist theory, build up the Party's governing capacity and improve its art of leadership and governance.

The Party should adhere to and improve democratic centralism and enhance its vitality, solidarity and unity, build a contingent of high-caliber leading cadres and form an energetic and promising leadership, Jiang added.

It should reinforce its class foundation and expand its mass base, and strengthen and improve its style of work and intensify the struggle against corruption, Jiang said.

In conclusion, Jiang called on all Party members and the people of all ethnic groups in the country to rally closely around the CPC Central Committee and work with one heart and one mind in a joint and unyielding effort to advance the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and create a happier life and a better future for all.

The quinquennial congress, the first for the CPC in the new century, is the most important event in China's political life this year, and has drawn worldwide attention for its significant bearing on China's future development.

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