A senior Chinese Communist Party official said in Beijing on January 12 that outstanding problems in the finance and tax areas should be addressed as quickly as possible.

Hu Jintao, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, said at a seminar high-ranking Party and government officials which began today at the Party School of the CPC Central Committeethat there are three major problems in the finance and tax sectors.

The proportion of fiscal income to gross domestic product and that of central fiscal income to the overall fiscal income of the country are still relatively low, said Hu, who is also China's vice-president.

The second problem is the fiscal expenditure is relatively irrational; the third is that the management of finance and tax departments is still loose.

Hu, who also serves as headmaster of the Party School, told about 100 ministerial-level officials of provincial governments and Party committees that those problems have become an obstacle to the further growth of China's economy and social causes, and have therefore caught the attention of all of society.

He urged leaders of all levels to focus on those problems, and look for ways to address the problems.

In addition, Hu asked leading officials at all levels to becomefamiliar with the general knowledge, policies and regulations of finance and tax.

Xiang Huaicheng, minister of finance, delivered the first lecture on China's financial reform at the seminar, which is expected to last a week. (Xinhua)