Communist Party of China (CPC) General Secretary and State President Jiang Zemin called on all CPC members and the Chinese people to continue to emancipate their mind, seek truth from facts, unite as one, and work hard to study and deal with the new situation and problems in its modernization drive.
At the beginning of the new century, China is facing good opportunities and severe challenges for its development, Jiang said Thursday, when he was attending, separately, group discussions of deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) from Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, southwest China.
Jiang extended festival greetings to female deputies of the NPC in celebration of the March 8 International Women's Day.
The president praised the two provinces for their achievements in economic and social development since the implementation of reform and open policies in the late 1970s.
He termed economic globalization and worldwide technical progress as historic opportunities for China to carry out economic restructuring and accelerate its economic and social development.
The reform and development of state-owned enterprises will affect not only national economic strength but also the economic foundation of socialism and the consolidation of the socialist system, the president said.
The goal set by the central leadership to relieve state companies from difficulties in three years between 1998-2000 has been initially achieved, but continued efforts must be made to expand what has been achieved and "strengthen the controlling and guiding role of the state-owned economic sector".
Given the fact that the provinces are home to a big number of ethnic minority people, Jiang called for strengthening a socialist ethnic relationship characterized by equality, unity and mutual assistance. Great efforts should be made to build infrastructure, develop science and education, and foster cadres from the ethnic minority people, he stressed.
Jiang urged building well Party organizations of all levels, stepping up supervision over leading officials, and following the principle of serving the people wholeheartedly.
The president expressed care for victims of a strong earthquake in the Ganzi Prefecture of Sichuan. He expressed his hope that local governments would give priority to making good arrangements for the daily life of the victims and helping them rebuild homes and restore production.
(People’s Daily 03/09/2001)
