Chinese Premier Chairs Meeting to Discuss Draft Government Work Report

Text of report entitled: “Wen Jiabao chairs the Ninth Plenary Meeting of the State Council to discuss the Government Work Report (Opinion Solicitation Draft)”, carried by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

Beijing, 26 January: Premier Wen Jiabao chaired the ninth plenary meeting of the State Council on the morning of 26 January to discuss the Government Work Report (opinion solicitation draft), which will be submitted to Fifth Session of the 10th National People’s Congress for review. The plenary meeting decided to distribute the draft to all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under central authorities’ jurisdiction, relevant departments, and relevant units to solicit their opinions.

Wen Jiabao made a speech at the meeting. He pointed out: The State Council reporting its work to the National People’s Congress is the duty and responsibility stipulated by the Constitution and is also an important form to subject the government to the people’s supervision. The Government Work Report should fully portray the interests, wishes, and needs of the large numbers of the masses and embody the spirit of assuming a high degree of responsibility for the people. The formation of the work report should proceed from soliciting the opinions of people in various circles, including various localities, departments, and social circles, democratic parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, personages without party affiliation, and, particular, cadres and masses at the grassroots level, so that the process of drafting the work report will become one that encourages democracy, reflects public opinion, gathers public wisdoms, and accumulates public wishes.

Wen Jiabao said: The year 2006 was the first year for China to implement the 11th Five Year Programme. Under the leadership of party Central Committee and State Council, the people throughout the country, through a united struggle, scored major achievements in national economic and social development, and made a good beginning in implementing the 11th Five-Year Programme. We should be fully aware of our achievements and strengthen our determination and confidence in moving forward. In the meantime, we should also remain sober-minded, squarely face our difficulties and problems, and sincerely tell the people about the drawbacks and shortcomings in our work.

Wen Jiabao said: This year is the last year of the current term government. We should, as always, unremittingly perform the government work better and make achievements to the satisfaction of the people. We should maintain a good command of the overall situation and bring the focal point into prominence. The most important is to use the scientific development concept to command the overall situation of economic and social development, maintain stable and relatively fast economic development, and prevent large- scale fluctuations. We should make efforts to adjust the economic structure and transform the economic growth mode; make efforts to strengthen energy saving and environmental protection; make efforts to push forward reform, opening up, and independent innovations; make efforts to promote social development, resolve problems in the people’s lives; and enable economic and social development to embark on the scientific development track.

Wen Jiabao stressed: Doing a good job in all aspects of work during the first quarter is very important to fulfilling the tasks for the whole year. 1. Making efforts for a good beginning in maintaining stable and relatively fast economic development for the whole year. From the beginning of this year, we should rationally control the scale of investment in fixed assets, strengthen monetary credit management, exercise good regulation, control, and management over land, prevent investment relapses and excessive credit issuance. In the meantime, we should make great efforts to save energy and reduce waste discharge. 2. Vigorously strengthening the work related to the “three rural issues” and making a success of the spring agricultural production, in particular. We should conscientiously implement the various policies on supporting and benefiting agriculture, exercise good macro regulation and control over the grain market, and stabilize and increase grain production. We should strengthen winter and spring farmland water conservancy infrastructural construction, do a good job in spring farming, make good preparations for spring farming, strengthen field management over winter wheat and other winter crops, and pay close attention to animal disease prevention as well as forest and prairie fire prevention. 3. Making great efforts to do a good job in financial and monetary work. We should optimize the financial expenditure structure, practice diligence and thrift, and oppose extravagance and waste. We should conscientiously implement the central authorities’ decisions and arrangements for financial work, comprehensively deepen financial reform, and promote the sustained, healthy, and safe development of financial undertakings. 4. Doing a good job in economic operations and regulatory work. We should do a good job in the production, transportation, and supply of coal, electricity, oil, and gas and ensure stable and healthy economic operations. 5. Paying close attention to resolving problems in the masses’ production and lives. We should conscientiously do a good job in providing relief and social assistance and ensure the basic lives of the urban and rural masses who have difficulties. We should pay earnest attention to safety in production, resolutely stop the occurrence of major and extraordinarily serious accidents, attach great importance to food and medicine security work.

Wen Jiabao stressed: All personnel of the State Council should always maintain high morale and the spirit of forging ahead, be careful in the beginning and respectful in the ending, work attentively, and perform their tasks without the slightest laxity. We should strengthen the government’s self-construction, comprehensively perform government functions, and strengthen social management and public service. We should exercise strict management of the government, oppose corruption, advocate a clean administration, strengthen system building, standardize the use of powers, resolutely punish hand-in-glove collaboration between officials and businessmen and power-money deals, and other corrupt practices. We should transform our style, seek truth and be pragmatic, diligently perform our duties, and resolutely oppose extravagance, waste, and luxuriousness.

Wen Jiabao conclude: Under the leadership of the party Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as the general secretary, we will hold high the great banner of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thinking of the “Three Represents,” comprehensively implement the scientific development concept, promote the construction of a harmonious society, advance with an enterprising spirit, perform our work in a down-to-earth manner, and greet the convocation of the 17th CPC National Congress with outstanding achievements.

All the composite members of the State Council were present at the meeting. Leaders of the relevant departments and units attended the meeting as nonvoting delegates.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.