The First Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, opened in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday morning. Nearly 3,000 deputies from across China attended the opening meeting. They heard speech by Premier Zhu Rongji on the work of the government.
Excerpts from the report follow:
Premier Makes an Inventory of Chinese Economy
Breakthroughs Made in Reform and Openness
Premier Proud of Achievements in Science, Technology and Education
China Makes Significant Achievements in Democracy Building
China Sees Remarkable Improvements in People's Living Standards
China Makes New Strides in National Defense and Army Building
Premier Zhu Outlines Experience on Government Work
Zhu Rongji Singles out China's Economic and Social Difficulties
Premier Clarifies General Requirements for Government in 2003
China to Further Expand Domestic Demands
Premier Stresses Agriculture and Rural Economy
Zhu Calls for Industrial Readjustments and Development of West China
Premier Calls for Deeper Reform and Wider Openness
Premier Calls for Improvements in Employment and Social Security
Premier on National Rejuvenation Through Science and Technology
Premier on Democracy, Rule of law and Cultural Ethics
Premier on Administrative Reform
Chinese Premier Confident of Early Reunification of Motherland
A New Chapter in Diplomatic Work During These Five Years
Premier Makes an Inventory of Chinese Economy
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said that over the past five years, China's national economy has maintained a good growth momentum, and made important advances in the strategic restructuring of the economy.
The five years since the First Session of the 9th National People's Congress has been an extraordinary period, according to the report.
Soon after the government took office, the Asian financial crisis struck, and world economic growth stagnated, according to the report.
Domestically, irrationalities in the industrial structure became critical, and large numbers of workers were laid off from state-owned enterprises. Catastrophic floods struck in 1998 and 1999.
Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people of all ethnic groups have forged ahead, worked still harder in solidarity, surmounted numerous difficulties, and made great achievements in reform, opening up and economic and social development that have won worldwide recognition. "We have attained the strategic goals for the second stage of our modernization drive and begun our march towards the third stage goals," the report says.
According to the report, during the past five years, the national economy maintained good growth momentum, and important advances were made in the strategic restructuring of the economy as follows:
China's GDP rose from 7.4 trillion yuan in 1997 to 10.2 trillion yuan in 2002, an average annual increase of 7.7 percent, when calculated in constant prices. Notable results were achieved in the readjustment of the industrial structure.
The supply of grain and other major agricultural products took a historic shift from chronic shortages to an overall balance with surpluses during good years. High and new technology industries, such as the IT industry, expanded rapidly.
The transformation of traditional industries was accelerated. Modern service industries developed rapidly. The quality and efficiency of economic growth improved constantly. National tax revenue grew by a large margin every year.
Total fiscal revenue rose from 0.8651 trillion yuan in 1997 to 1.8914 trillion yuan in 2002, an average annual increase of 205.3 billion yuan. China's foreign exchange reserves climbed from US$139.9 billion to US$286.4 billion.
Investment in fixed assets over the five years totaled 17.2 trillion yuan. In particular, based on the issuance of 660 billion yuan of long-term construction treasury bonds, 3.28 trillion yuan of bank loans and funds from other sources were generated for investment, allowing us to accomplish many large projects we had been planning for years but unable to undertake for lack of resources.
The productive forces reached a new high, and the country's economic strength and ability to withstand risks and compete internationally grew significantly.
Remarkable achievements were made in infrastructure development, the report says.
By concentrating our resources, China completed a number of key infrastructure projects of nationwide significance. The country built water conservancy projects on a scale larger than any other time since the founding of New China. The investment in these projects nationwide totaled 356.2 billion yuan for the five years, which was equal to the total investment in this field from 1950 through 1997 after adjusting for price changes, according to the report.
A number of key water conservancy projects were launched or completed. Work on reinforcing 35,000 km of river embankments was started. Over 3,500 km of main dikes of the Yangtze River and nearly 1,000 km of dikes of the Yellow River have been reinforced, and their capacity to withstand floods has been greatly increased.
The second phase of the Three Gorges water control project on the Yangtze River, which has attracted world attention, will soon be completed; water control facilities such as the one at Xiaolangdi on the Yellow River became operational, and construction on the South-North Water Diversion Project was begun.
Transport developed on an unprecedented scale, and a comprehensive modern transport system began to take shape. In these five years, China invested 1.2343 trillion yuan in highway building, which was equal to 170 percent of the figure for the period from 1950 through 1997 after adjusting for price changes.
The total length of highways open to traffic increased from 1.23 million km in 1997 to 1.76 million km in 2002, of which expressways increased from 4,771 km to 25,200 km, lifting China from the 39th to the second place in the world.
Railway length increased from 65,969 km to 71,500 km. Over the past five years, construction of 5,944 km of new railway lines, of which 4,603 km are double-track and 5,704 km are electrified, was completed. A total of 50 airports were either newly built or expanded. The annual cargo handling capacity of dock berths for 10,000 DWT or larger ships increased by 144 million tons.
Construction of postal and telecommunications facilities greatly expanded. The length of installed long-distance optical cables increased from 150,000 km in 1997 to 470,000 km in 2002, and the number of fixed-line and mobile phone subscribers increased from 83.54 million to 421 million, ranking China first in the world.
Construction in the energy sector was further intensified. The installed power-generating capacity increased from 254 million kw in 1997 to 353 million kw in 2002, the report says.
The program for developing the western region made a good start, the report says.
Over the past three years since the introduction of the western development strategy, the government has given a powerful push to the region's development by increasing investment, stepping up transfer payments and introducing preferential fiscal and taxation policies. Work was begun on 36 new key projects, which called for a total investment of over 600 billion yuan, it says.
Smooth progress was made on such major projects as the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the diversion of natural gas and electricity from the western to the eastern regions, water control projects and trunk highways.
Work was accelerated to ensure that every county seat is served by asphalt roads, that every township has access to electricity, and that every village enjoys radio and television reception.
China's capability for sustainable development was enhanced. The spending on environmental protection and ecological development in the five years reached 580 billion yuan, amounting to 170 percent of the figure from 1950 through 1997.
Six forest ecological projects -- reforesting formerly cultivated land, protecting natural forests and controlling the sources of dust storms affecting Beijing and Tianjin -- were carried out in full.
During these five years, an additional 27.87 million hectares of land was covered with trees; 31.53 million hectares of hills were cordoned off for afforestation, and about 3.82 million hectares of formerly cultivated land were returned to forests. Soil erosion on 266,000 square km of land and desertification on about 5.7 million hectares of land were brought under control.
The tendency towards worsening environmental pollution has, on the whole, been arrested. New progress was made in the protection of natural resources. With the natural population growth rate down to 6.45 per thousand, China has entered a new period of low and stable birthrate, according to the report.
Breakthroughs Made in Reform and Openness
According to the report, during these five years, the ownership structure was further readjusted and improved. The public sector of the economy grew stronger in the course of readjustment and reform, and efforts to diversify ways of realizing public ownership were successful. The state sector of the economy went through accelerated restructuring, and markedly enhanced its dominance and competitiveness.
The objective of turning loss-making state-owned enterprises around within three years was basically attained. Most large and medium-sized key state-owned enterprises attained by and large the goal of establishing the modern corporate system, and a number of dynamic and competitive enterprises have come to the fore.
Further progress was made in opening up and revitalizing small and medium-sized state-owned enterprises. Substantive progress was made in restructuring the management system of monopoly industries. The collective economy in urban and rural areas made new headway. The joint-stock company sector of the economy expanded continuously.
And individually-owned businesses, private enterprises and other non-public sectors of the economy developed fairly fast and played an important role in stimulating economic growth, creating more jobs, invigorating the market and expanding exports, the report says.
The modern market system developed in a comprehensive way. The national economy has become more market-oriented, and the basic role of the market in allocating resources has become noticeably stronger. Price reforms in the area of public services, energy and transport were constantly deepened, according the report.
The development of markets for capital, property rights, land, technology and labor was accelerated. Modern methods of distribution and marketing continued to spread. Significant results were achieved in straightening up and improving the order of the market economy. Large-scale nationwide campaigns were carried out against smuggling, fraudulently obtaining tax and foreign currency benefits, and producing and selling counterfeit and shoddy goods. Special efforts were also made to target wrongdoings in cultural activities, tourism, the building industry, rural market fairs and production safety. A large number of economic crimes were dealt with in accordance with the law, and criminals found to have seriously undermined the market order were punished. As a result, the market environment and the consumption climate gradually improved, the report says.
Reforms of the banking, fiscal, taxation, investment and financing systems were deepened. A banking system compatible with a growing socialist market economy has begun to take shape. China gradually improved the way the country exercises financial regulation, restructured the management system of the People's Bank of China (China's central bank), and established a unified national regulatory system for securities and insurance.
Reform of the wholly state-owned commercial banks and policy banks proceeded steadily, and the structure of the small and medium-sized commercial banks was optimized. Significant progress was made in rectifying and standardizing nonbank financial institutions. Upholding the principles of law, regulation, self-discipline and standards, the securities industry has developed through progressive standardization.
Reform of the insurance industry was deepened. Rural-based cooperative funds were screened and put out of business. Unauthorized nongovernment financial services and other illegal activities were banned in accordance with the law. As financial regulation was gradually tightened, our ability to prevent or defuse financial risks has improved, and the proportion of non-performing assets of Chinese banks decreased.
A rudimentary public finance framework compatible with the socialist market economy came into being. On the basis of the tax-sharing reform, new reforms for sharing income tax revenue were implemented in China's fiscal system.
The system of preparing department-specific budgets was introduced at both central and provincial levels. Experiments on separating management of revenue and expenditures and reforming the unified treasury collection and payment system progressed steadily.
Noticeable results were also achieved in the reform of the taxation system and the tax collection and management. Reform of the investment and financing system was gradually deepened, with new sources of investment and financing opened up and the ways of investment and financing diversified.
Basic forms of the legal person responsibility system for projects, the tender system, the contract system and the project supervision system were set up, according to the report.
During these five years, the framework of a social security system was established by and large, the report says.
The establishment of basic old-age pension and medical insurance systems in urban areas has made significant headway. Systems of basic living allowances for laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises, unemployment insurance, and subsistence allowances for the urban poor were established.
The coverage of social security programs continued to expand. The number of urban residents participating in the basic old-age pension program, the basic medical insurance system and the unemployment insurance program increased significantly. Needy urban residents came gradually under the coverage of the subsistence allowances program, and we made sure that all eligible urban residents were by and large provided for.
A national social security fund was established, and it has already accumulated 124.2 billion yuan of capital. Significant progress was made in reforming the basic medical insurance system for urban workers, the health care system, and the drug production and distribution system. Pilot projects to introduce a new cooperative medical care system in rural areas were launched. Accelerated development of the social security system provides an effective guarantee for maintaining social stability, deepening reforms, making structural readjustments and furthering development.
The report says that China's opening up was expanded in greater scope and depth.
China's foreign trade has taken several big steps forward. The combined volume of imports and exports increased from US$325.2 billion in 1997 to US$620.8 billion in 2002, raising China from the tenth to the fifth place in the world. The country's total exports increased from US$182.8 billion to US$325.6 billion. China has continued to optimize its export mix.
China has markedly improved its ability to use foreign investment. The amount of foreign direct investment actually used over the past five years came to US$226.1 billion, more than the total used in the 1979-1997 period. Significant increases in using foreign capital occurred in high and new-tech industries, infrastructure and service industries.
Owing to the "going global" strategy, outbound investment, construction contracts for overseas projects and labor cooperation programs kept growing. After 15 years of arduous efforts, China became a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001, which was a new landmark in our opening up, according to the report.
Premier Proud of Achievements in Science, Technology and Education
During these five years, significant headway was made in basic research and high-tech and applied technology studies. Significant progress was made in establishing China's innovation system.
According to the report, remarkable achievements were scored in such fields as information technology, life science and aeronautical and space technologies. A detailed map of rice genome was completed, an experimental 10 mw high temperature gas-cooled reactor was built, a super-large parallel processing computer was developed, and the Shenzhou series of spacecraft was successfully tested. All these achievements show that China ranks among the advanced countries in the related fields.
A number of key state laboratories were completed, several major scientific projects were carried out, and work was begun on building a number of national engineering research centers. The process of applying scientific and technological achievements to industrialized and commercial production was noticeably accelerated. More than 140,000 science and technology achievements underwent state registration in these five years, and 520,000 patents were granted. Protection of intellectual property rights improved.
In the past five years, areas where the nine-year compulsory education had basically become universal and where illiteracy among the young and middle-aged had been basically eliminated accounted for 65 percent of the Chinese population in 1997, and the figure rose to 91 percent in 2002. Senior secondary education was strengthened.
Institutions of higher learning have enrolled more students every year since 1999, and the admission rate for those taking the college entrance exams increased from 36 percent to 59 percent. In 2002, the student population in institutions of higher learning was 16 million, 2.3 times the 1997 figure. In these five years, 13 million junior and regular college students and 310,000 graduate students graduated.
Privately-run schools developed rapidly. Competence-oriented education was given greater emphasis to ensure that students would develop in an all-round way, morally, intellectually, physically and aesthetically, the report says.
China Makes Significant Achievements in Democracy Building
The report says: Governments at all levels are ready to accept the supervision by the people's congresses and their standing committees at the same levels, tighten their ties with local committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and lend attentive ears to views presented by personages of non-communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, personages without party affiliation and people's organizations. Grassroots democracy has been expanded, with self-government by villagers and urban residents and the practice of making public the affairs of villages, enterprises and administrative work gradually spreading.
Progress has been accelerated in implementing the basic strategy of governing the country by law, making the governments at all levels perform their official duties in strict compliance with law, and speeding up the building of the legal system.
The State Council has over the past five years advanced 50 legislative proposals and promulgated 150 administrative statutes. In line with the requirements of a socialist market economy and China's WTO membership, the State Council made a sweeping review of 756 administrative statutes promulgated up to the end of 2000, abrogating 71 and nullifying 80 others. The agencies under the State Council went over 2,300 regulations and policies on foreign affairs and abrogated 830 and amended 325 others.
The government has also intensified administrative supervision, auditing and economic supervision, contributing significantly to promoting the exercise of administrative powers according to law, fighting corruption and building a clean government, and uncovering major economic cases. All the measures adopted for the comprehensive improvement of law and order have been well put in place, resulting in a turn for the better in law and order, making the people feel more secure, according to the report.
Reviewing the fresh achievements in promoting spiritual civilization, the report says:
The drive to study and disseminate Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents has been brought into depth; the rule by law has been integrated with the rule by virtue; activities for promoting good manners and ethics and fostering new social conventions have been developing vigorously; promotion of good ideology and morality has been strengthened; scientific knowledge has been further popularized and scientific spirit has gained popularity; art and literature, news media and publishing as well as radio, film and television have developed in an all-round way; endless streams of fine works have come to the fore; reform and development in culture, health and sports have been accelerated; the struggle against the spread of pornography and illegal publications has been carried into depth; cultural exchanges with the outside world have never been more lively; health services in both urban and rural areas have been strengthened; achievements have been made in the prevention and control of major diseases; there was no major epidemics after natural disasters; the Outline Program for the Development of Women and Children has been implemented in real earnest; young people have been better educated and protected; work concerning the aging population has been unfolded; great progress was made in advancing the cause of disabled people; sports with mass participation have been encouraged throughout the country; competitive sports have yielded good results, winning 485 world champions and setting 193 new world records; Beijing won the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games; and Shanghai secured the bid to host the 2010 World Exposition.
China Sees Remarkable Improvements in People's Living Standards
China has succeeded in improving the people's standard of living and in establishing on the whole are relatively affluent society over the past five years.
The income of urban and rural residents grew continuously in the last five years.
The per capita disposable income of urban dwellers went up from 5,160 yuan in 1997 to 7,703 yuan in 2002, an average annual increase of 8.6 percent in real terms. The per capita net income of rural households increased from 2,090 yuan to 2,476 yuan, up by an annual average of 3.8 percent in real terms.
The balance of savings deposits of urban and rural residents rose from 4.6 trillion yuan to 8.7 trillion yuan. The number of rural poor decreased from 49.6 million to 28.2 million.
In these five years, the economy grew relatively fast and prices remained fairly low, resulting in more tangible benefits for the people, the report says.
During these five years, the level of consumption rose noticeably. Urban and rural markets have been thriving. The total volume of retail sales of consumer goods in the country increased from 2.73 trillion yuan in 1997 to 4.1 trillion yuan in 2002, up by an annual average of 10.5 percent in real terms.
The per capita living space of urban dwellers increased from 17.8 square meters to nearly 22 square meters, and that for rural dwellers, from 22.5 square meters to 26.5 square meters. Such household appliances as TV sets, washing machines and refrigerators became more common, and an increasing number of families acquired computers and cars. The number of public facilities and the per capita green area has grown. As conditions of medical care continued to improve, people's health has come to a higher level with the average life expectancy reaching 71.8 years in 2002, close to that of a medium-level developed country, the report says.
China Makes New Strides in National Defense and Army Building
National defense and army building have made new strides over the last five years.
Acting on the military strategies for the new era, the people?s army has implemented the strategy of strengthening itself through science and technology. The revolutionization, modernization and standardization of the armed forces have been carried forward, leading to a rise in the country's military capability and the army's defensive combat readiness, says the report.
The task of reducing the armed forces by half a million troops was completed on schedule. Ideological and political work in the army was carried out effectively. Reforms in the army's logistical support system continued to deepen. The army's level of modernization in weapons was improved significantly.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army, the Chinese People's Armed Police, the army reserves and the people's militia have made great contributions to safeguarding the sovereignty and security of the country, supporting its economic development and providing rescue and relief in the wake of natural calamities or emergencies.
The report says more intensified research efforts have brought about new developments in defense-related science, technology and industry. Continuous progress has been made in national defense mobilization. Efforts have been intensified to encourage activities for mutual support between the army on one hand and the government and people on the other, and this has further strengthened their solidarity.
Premier Zhu Outlines Experience on Government Work
Zhu Rongji, whose five-year term as Chinese premier expires soon, gave considerable length to elaborating his experience in fulfilling the government job. He summed up his experience in nine aspects as follows:
Maintaining the right direction and intensity of macroeconomic regulation and implementing the proactive fiscal policy and the prudent monetary policy;
Unswervingly taking economic restructuring as paramount and working hard to improve the quality and efficiency of economic growth;
Steadfastly giving priority to solving the problems facing agriculture, rural areas and farmers and consolidating the position of agriculture as the foundation of the national economy;
Steadfastly carrying forward the reform of state-owned enterprises and effectively strengthening reemployment work and development of the social security system;
Steadfastly opening wider to the outside world and actively participating in international economic and technological cooperation and competition;
Implementing the strategy of invigorating the country through science, technology and education, raising the nation's scientific and technological capability for innovation and improving the overall quality of the population;
Continuing to take the path of sustainable development and promoting a coordinated development of the economy, population, resources and the environment;
Doing everything possible to maintain social stability and creating a favorable environment for reform and development;
Continuing to transform government functions and endeavoring to build a clean, diligent, efficient and pragmatic government.
Zhu Rongji Singles out China's Economic and Social Difficulties
"We are clearly aware that there are still some outstanding difficulties and problems in China's economic and social life," he said.
He listed the problems, in main, as follows:
Insufficient domestic effective demand and inability of the supply structure to respond to changes in market demand;
Slow growth in the income of farmers and some urban residents;
Rise in the unemployed and serious difficulties in some people's livelihood;
Continued inequities in the distribution of income;
Arduous tasks remaining in the reform of state-owned enterprises;
The need to continue to rectify and standardize the order of the market economy;
Sporadic occurrence of major industrial accidents;
Poor public security in some places;
Degradation of the ecological environment in some areas;
Continued isolation from the people and perpetration of formalism, bureaucracy, falsification, extravagance and waste among some government officials, and certain types of corruption remaining conspicuous.
The report says that some of these problems are the legacy of the past; others are hardly avoidable in the course of institutional transition and structural readjustment, and still others are caused by shortcomings and inadequacies in our work. More steps should be taken conscientiously to solve them, it stresses.
Premier Clarifies General Requirements for Government in 2003
These requirements are:
Take Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents as our guide;
Earnestly carry forward the spirit of the Sixteenth Party Congress;
Steadfastly give top priority to development in the Party's governance and rejuvenation of the country;
Vigorously respond to difficulties and challenges caused by changing domestic and international environments;
Continue to follow the policy of expanding domestic demand as well as the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy;
Further deepen the reform and open still wider to the outside world; accelerate the strategic readjustment of the economic structure;
Promote a sustained, rapid and sound development of the national economy and integrate speed with structure, quality and efficiency;
Correctly handle the relationships among reform, development and stability; effectively improve the development of democracy and the legal system and the promotion of spiritual civilization and Party building;
And promote a coordinated development of socialist material civilization, political civilization and spiritual civilization.
China to Further Expand Domestic Demands
The premier called for continuing to expand domestic demand and achieve a steady and rapid economic growth this year.
Maintaining the good momentum of economic growth is the basis for success in all fields of our work, the report says, adding, "Based on our overall analysis of the situation at home and abroad, we set the target for 2003 economic growth at around seven percent. This growth rate is both necessary and achievable through hard work."
"It is imperative that we pay adequate attention to raising the quality and efficiency of economic growth by readjusting and optimizing the economic structure. We should adhere to the policy of expanding domestic demand, continue to implement the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, and ensure a double-pull effect on economic growth from both consumption demand and investment demand," the report says.
First of all, the government should strive to expand consumption demand. Given the current situation, this is more important than greater investment demand. We should continue to increase the income of urban and rural residents, especially those with low income, and work hard to raise the living standards of the population. "We should do everything possible to increase farmers' income and lighten their burden," the report says.
The government should effectively solve the problems the needy face in work and livelihood. The original plan to raise the salaries of government employees as well as retirees' pensions in the second half of last year was postponed in order to first solve the problems of the urban poor and to harmonize relationships among the interests of all quarters. This measure, however, will take effect this year. The government should continue to improve the consumption climate by improving relevant policies and expanding areas of consumer spending, according to the report.
A relatively fast increase in investment should be maintained. Based on an overall consideration of various factors, we plan to issue 140 billion yuan of long-term construction treasury bonds in 2003. The government should redirect the use of funds to be raised from treasury bonds as follows:
Priority should be given to ongoing projects and projects which are near completion, and to a selected number of new projects which are wholly necessary.
More support should be given to development of the western region, projects to improve production and living conditions in rural areas, technological transformation of enterprises, improvement of the ecological environment, and undertakings in science, education, culture and health care.
The government should broaden the channels for investment from society and for enterprise financing and direct investment funds from society to industries and development projects encouraged by the state.
The government should resolutely guard against redundant low-level development. In some localities, real estate investment is expanding too rapidly and too many luxury homes are being built. "We must heighten our vigilance against risks and potential losses from blind development," the report stresses.
While continuing to watch out for and defuse financial risks, the government should generate more financial resources to support economic development. Banks must give priority to extending matching loans to projects financed by treasury bonds, lend more money to enterprises that are profitable and trustworthy and have a ready market for their products, provide more credit to support agriculture, the rural economy, small and medium-sized enterprises and the service industry, and standardize and increase consumer credit.
The government should improve banking services, tighten financial regulation, and develop securities, insurance and money markets in accordance with established standards.
The government should conscientiously handle fiscal and taxation work and vigorously increase revenue and cut expenditures. By strengthening tax collection and management according to law and cracking down on all forms of tax evasion and tax fraud, the government will ensure that all taxes due are collected without exception.
Financial departments at all levels should arrange their expenditures so that funding for key items is ensured. They must first pay wages and salaries on time and in full, continue to increase their social security contribution, increase spending on agriculture, compulsory education and health care in rural areas, and increase transfer payments to the country's central and western regions and areas in difficulties, according to the report.
Premier Stresses Agriculture and Rural Economy
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji called for promoting all-round development of agriculture and the rural economy.
"We should continue to take developing agriculture and the rural economy and increasing farmers' income as the top priority of our economic work. Economic and social development in urban and rural areas must be coordinated, and work relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers must be done well."
China should accelerate structural readjustment in agriculture and the rural economy, according to the report.
The government should continue readjusting the distribution of agricultural areas and promoting industrialization of agriculture; vigorously develop animal husbandry, aquatic farming and the processing of agricultural products; while returning more farmland to forests; implement without delay the national plan for the conservation of grasslands.
The government should strengthen the system for quality and safety of agricultural products and the system of commercialized services for agriculture; continue implementing and improving the rural household land contract system and manage well the non-agricultural land.
While continuing to deepen various reforms in rural areas, the government should extend the experiment with rural taxes and administrative charges to all parts of the country on the basis of well summed up experience and improved policies.
The government should conscientiously implement all policies and measures designed to lighten the burden on farmers; and protect farmers' interests better by deepening the reform of the grain and cotton distribution system.
The report calls for investing more in the development of agriculture infrastructure and in agricultural science and technology.
China should speed up the construction of facilities for water-saving irrigation and for supplying potable water for people and livestock, roads linking county seats and townships, facilities for rural energy supply, as well as educational, medical and health facilities in the countryside.
More assistance should be given to major grain producing areas, he stressed. A good job should be done in alleviating poverty through development. The collective economy should be helped grow stronger. Intra-county economic development should be promoted. The process of urbanization should be accelerated.
The government should coordinate and guide the shifting of surplus rural labor to non-agricultural undertakings better, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of farmer-laborers holding temporary or permanent jobs in cities.
Zhu Calls for Industrial Readjustments and Development of West China
Zhu Rongji called for aggressively pushing forward the readjustment of the industrial structure and the development of the western region.
China should speed up the readjustment of the industrial structure according to the need for a new approach to industrialization, he says in the report, adding vigorous efforts should be made to develop high and new-tech industries that can greatly spur our economic growth.
"We should energetically promote IT application and use IT to propel industrialization. We should make extensive use of advanced adaptive technologies to transform traditional industries and invigorate our equipment manufacturing industry. We should do a good job in planning and readjusting the development of our steel, automobile and building materials industries to prevent blind expansion and disorderly competition. We should eliminate an even bigger slice of our production capacity that has become obsolete. We should vigorously develop modern services and tourism. We should attach great importance to the development of community-based services," the report says.
The development of China's western region requires sound and persistent efforts. "We should focus on key projects, stress practical results and lay a solid foundation," it stresses.
While continuing to strengthen protection of the ecological environment and infrastructure development, China should effectively restore cultivated land to forests, protect natural forests, and prevent further desertification. The program of restoring grazing areas to grasslands should continue, and relevant legal work should be intensified.
"We should work harder and more effectively on major projects to ensure the progress and quality of construction. Economic activities with local characteristics and competitive industries should be given greater support. We should accelerate the development of science, technology and education in the western region," the report says.
Economic exchanges and cooperation among the eastern, central and western regions should be strengthened, so that they can complement one another and develop side by side, according to Zhu. Measures should be tightened to prevent unwarranted transfer to the western region of discarded, obsolete industrial equipment and polluting enterprises, it says.
The report calls for greater support to the old industrial bases in their efforts to quicken readjustment and technological transformation, encourage cities or areas that are mainly dependent on resource exploitation to develop alternative industries, and helping the old revolutionary base areas and areas inhabited by ethnic minorities to develop more quickly.
Premier Calls for Deeper Reform and Wider Openness
While adhering to and improving the basic economic system in which public ownership plays the dominant role and diverse forms of ownership develop by its side, China will unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy, and unswervingly encourage, support and guide the development of the individual, private and other non-public sectors of the economy, according to the report.
The government should continue to push reforms turning state-owned enterprises into standard joint-stock companies and improve the mechanisms of supervision over them in accordance with the requirements of establishing a modern corporate system.
"We should actively support eligible large enterprises to become listed on overseas stock markets. We should establish large, internationally competitive companies or enterprise groups that have distinctive main lines of business and possess their own intellectual property rights and name brands," the report says.
The government should do a better job of reorganizing military-industrial and other enterprises in difficulties and help them out of their plight; carry forward the reform of the power, telecommunications and civil aviation industries; reform the state property management system from top to bottom in an orderly way; expand the area in which private capital has market access and create an environment of fair competition for all types of market players; support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially technology and labor-intensive ones, regardless of their forms of ownership.
"We should steadily carry out reform of the financial system and continue reforms of the taxation, investment and financing systems. We should deepen reform of the system for income distribution and progressively rationalize it," says the report.
Rectifying and regulating the order of the market economy is a long-term and demanding task, but we must persevere, the premier noted.
The government should seek both temporary and permanent solutions to the problems, with emphasis on permanent solutions; continue to focus on special areas and key links and crack down severely on the making and selling of counterfeit and shoddy goods and other illegal and criminal activities; improve the formulation of institutions and laws, strictly enforce the law and gradually bring market management under a system of laws and standards; promptly investigate and prosecute major cases of sabotage against the order of the market economy.
The government should speed up the establishment of a social credibility system. "We should pay close attention to ensuring production safety and strengthen supervision and management to effectively protect people's lives and property. We should accelerate the establishment of a new order in the socialist market economy through reform and rectification. We should open up further by integrating our 'bringing in' and 'going global' strategies."
While continuing to do a good job during the grace period after our entry into the WTO, China should conscientiously exercise our rights and fulfill our commitments. "We need stability in our policies and measures to promote exports," the report says.
"We should continue our market diversification strategy and expand trade in goods and services on the basis of fine quality. We should cultivate and support superior domestic brands and improve the international competitiveness of Chinese products. We should optimize our import mix and deepen the reform of the foreign trade system."
The government should continue to actively and effectively use foreign capital, emphasize bringing in advanced technologies, modern managerial expertise and specialists, and support multiple forms of cooperation between Chinese enterprises and transnational corporations.
Vigorous efforts should be made to improve our investment environment and standardize procedures for attracting investment. Whatever their forms of ownership, Chinese enterprises that have comparative advantages should be encouraged to operate internationally through joint ventures, wholly-owned ventures or joint operations in order to increase the export of domestically produced goods, particularly capital goods.
"We should work still harder to promote bilateral, multilateral and regional economic cooperation."
Premier Calls for Improvements in Employment and Social Security
Adhering to the policy that calls for "the worker to find a job on his own, the market to regulate employment and the government to promote job creation," the government should do everything possible to expand employment and reemployment, according to the report.
In the course of reform of state-owned enterprises, the government should combine the reduction of staff for higher efficiency with the promotion of reemployment. Policies and measures designed to encourage reemployment of laid-off workers must be conscientiously carried out.
The government should open more avenues for employment, develop labor-intensive industries and make full use of the role of the tertiary industry, small and medium-sized enterprises and the individual and private sectors of the economy in the area of job creation. The labor market should be standardized and developed.
"We should encourage people to look for jobs on their own or become self-employed and promote flexible and diverse types of employment. We should vigorously develop vocational training and employment services and improve our guidance and services to college and vocational school graduates in their search for jobs and career opportunities," the report says.
The government should continue improving the work of ensuring payment on time and in full of the living allowances for workers laid off from state-owned enterprises, the basic pensions for retirees and subsistence allowances for the urban poor.
The government should also do a good job of streamlining the "three-stage guarantees." Social security coverage should be expanded by upgrading basic old-age pensions and medical insurance for workers of enterprises in urban areas.
The government should steadily incorporate living allowances for laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises into the unemployment insurance. The government should rationally determine the criteria for eligible recipients and the exact level of each recipient, so that all the eligible urban poor will receive the benefits to which they are entitled.
The basic livelihood of workers of state-owned enterprises in difficulties and those which have already gone under must be ensured appropriately.
The government should raise social security funds through a variety of channels and manage them properly. Existing assistance systems for low-income people should be improved and more should be established, and close attention should be paid to properly resolving problems encountered by the neediest urban households in housing, children's schooling, medical care and heating. Work should be done to ensure the success of pilot programs for a new type of rural cooperative medical system.
"We should expand other social benefit undertakings, such as social welfare, social relief, preferential job placement for ex-servicemen and mutual aid. The legitimate rights and interests of women and children must be effectively protected. We should also improve our work concerning senior citizens and give greater support to the cause of the disabled," the report says.
Premier on National Rejuvenation Through Science and Technology
Premier Zhu Rongji said the government will conscientiously implement the strategy of national rejuvenation through science, technology and education and the strategy of sustainable development. The government should continue to increase investment for developing science, technology and education.
State plans for medium and long-term development of science and technology should be promptly formulated and implemented.
"We need to promote the development of a state innovation system. We should effectively strengthen our basic and high-tech research and enhance our capabilities for scientific and technological innovation and competition. We should lose no time in implementing the State Plan for High-Tech Research and Development and the State Plan for Development of Basic Research in Key Areas, as well as major projects for science and technology development," the report says.
China should master core technologies and win proprietary intellectual property rights in key areas and some frontier fields of science and technology; strengthen the infrastructure for science and technology; continue to restructure the administration of science and technology activities, improve their service system, strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, facilitate the patenting of inventions, and facilitate a faster transition from research achievements to actual productivity.
Equal importance should be attached to social and natural sciences, and work should be done to promote the development of philosophy and other social sciences.
"We should deepen the reform of the educational system, encourage innovative approaches to education, and promote competence-oriented education in an all-round way," says the report.
China should accelerate the development of all types of education at all levels and improve the quality of education; continue to improve the management system for rural compulsory education in which the county authorities play the principal role; continue doing a good job in providing student loans and establishing a national scholarship system.
Vocational education and training should be strengthened. Privately-run schools should be standardized in accordance with the law, and their development should be supported.
"We should continue implementing the strategy of making China strong by giving full play to the role of talented people. We should train and attract more people with expertise in all fields, especially people of a high caliber and with expertise badly needed in China."
"To achieve this purpose, China must create the kind of conditions whereby they can fully develop their abilities and carve out successful careers for themselves; keep up good work with regard to population and family planning and maintain a low birth rate; improve our planning for urban and rural development; effectively protect, rationally exploit and economize on natural resources."
More programs should be implemented for developing marine resources. Protection and conservation of the ecological environment should be strengthened, and the environmental protection industry should be vigorously developed. Pollution prevention and treatment should be intensified in key river valleys and key land and sea areas.
"We must do a better job of comprehensive environmental control in cities, and disaster prevention and reduction should be effectively carried out," the report says.
Premier on Democracy, Rule of law and Cultural Ethics
China should develop socialist democracy and build a socialist political civilization. Political power and democracy at the local level in urban and rural areas should be strengthened.
China should combine rule of law with rule by virtue in running the country, improve the socialist legal system and the administrative laws and statutes, raise the level of law enforcement by administrative authorities and cultivate a law-abiding citizenry throughout the country.
"Firmly grasping the orientation of advanced culture, we should redouble our efforts to build up a socialist spiritual civilization. We should earnestly put the Program for Improving Civic Morality into practice and foster and promote a national spirit. We should encourage popular participation in activities to raise the cultural and ethical standards of the general public," the report says.
China should further develop cultural undertakings, such as literature and art, mass media, publishing, radio, film and television, and bring out a large number of quality works; deepen structural reform in the cultural field and actively develop cultural undertakings and cultural industries; improve the protection of the country's cultural relics and cultural heritage and increase its cultural exchanges with other countries.
"We should disseminate scientific knowledge, combat superstition, and promote a civil and healthy lifestyle. We should tirelessly fight against pornographic and illegal publications. Development and management of Internet websites should be strengthened," it says.
China should actively promote the reform and development of health and sports undertakings. Fitness campaigns for the general public should be vigorously promoted, and the level of competitive sports raised even further.
China should conscientiously do a good job in preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai. "We must spare no effort in maintaining social stability. The principle of severely cracking down on crimes must be adhered to, and we should combine punishment with prevention with emphasis on the latter, and to maintain law and order in a comprehensive way."
China must severely deal with all crimes in accordance with the law and watch out for and punish criminal activities of cult organizations.
Premier on Administrative Reform
Premier Zhu Rongji called for efforts to earnestly improve the government itself, saying that under the new circumstances of stronger momentum in reform, opening up and the modernization drive, it is of vital importance for the government to further improve itself, especially its work style. Work must be done to deepen the reform of the administrative system.
In keeping with separation of the government from enterprises and the principles of simplification, consistency and efficiency, China should continue to transform government functions, reorganize the government setup, clarify the functions of government departments, reduce administrative examination and approval, and improve government management so as to bring about an administrative system that has standardized behavior and operational harmony and is fair, transparent, clean and efficient, according to the report.
The Party Central Committee and the State Council have completed a plan for the reform of the government setup, which will be submitted to this NPC session for consideration.
"We must follow the law and be strict in performing our official duties. We should improve the system of public service and build a contingent of high-standard public servants. We should speed up the development of e-government," says the report.
The government must keep up the anti-corruption fight, energetically rectify misconduct and unhealthy tendencies in various trades and government departments, and strictly deal with all breaches of law or discipline.
The government should strengthen institutional improvement, intensify administrative supervision and auditing, and fight corruption by addressing its root causes. The government should do a good job with letters and visits from the people and intensify oversight by the media and the general public.
"In working earnestly to improve our work style, the government must oppose formalism and bureaucracy, refrain from building 'image projects' in the pursuit of personal fame, correct such undesirable practices as falsifying reports, boasting and dictating orders to the people, and resist extravagance and waste."
Government officials at all levels should go to the people in their neighborhoods and homes, listen to their views, care about their hardships and promptly attend to their grievances.
"Given the new situation, we should be all the more mindful of potential perils and prepare for the worst. It is incumbent upon all of us to remain modest, prudent and free from arrogance and rashness in our style of work, and to preserve the style of plain living and hard work," says the report.
Chinese Premier Confident of Early Reunification of Motherland
Zhu said maintaining the prosperity, stability and development in Hong Kong and Macao is an unshakable goal.
The central government should continue to implement the principle of "one country, two systems" and act in strict accordance with the basic laws of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. The central government should give full support to the chief executives and governments of the two regions in their administration according to law, according to the report.
The mainland must implement the basic principles of "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" and the eight-point proposal for the settlement of the Taiwan question, strive for an early resumption of dialogue and negotiation between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits on the basis of the one-China principle, and strongly oppose any statements or actions aimed at creating "Taiwan independence," "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan."
The mainland should further expand the scope of personnel visits across the Straits as well as exchanges and cooperation in the economic, cultural and other fields while vigorously promoting the opening of the "three direct links" between the two sides; increase exchange of views with all political parties and prominent people of various circles in Taiwan on developing cross-Straits relations and promoting peaceful reunification; and continue to give support to the activities of overseas Chinese communities to oppose Taiwan independence and promote national reunification.
A New Chapter in Diplomatic Work During These Five Years
Peace and development remain the themes of the present era. World multipolarization and economic globalization are making headway amid twists and turns.
Premier Zhu Rongji reiterated China will unswervingly pursue an independent foreign policy of peace."
China will continue to consolidate and strengthen its solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries and support them in their efforts to defend their legitimate rights and interests, the report says.
China will continue to cultivate friendly ties with its neighbors, increase regional cooperation and bring its exchanges and cooperation with neighboring countries to a new high, the report says.
China will continue to improve and develop its relations with developed countries and, on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, broaden the area of common interests and appropriately iron out differences.
China will continue to take an active part in multilateral diplomacy and promote democracy in international relations and diversity in development models.
"We remain opposed to all forms of hegemonism and power politics and stand against terrorism in all its manifestations. The Chinese people are ready to join the people of all other countries in the lofty cause of promoting world peace and development," the report says.
(China.org.cn March 5, 2003)
