Chinese President, Other Leaders Join NPC, CPPCC Group Discussions 7 March

Text of report by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

["Two Sessions Authorized Release": "Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan Separately Join the Deliberation and Discussion of Delegations"]

Beijing, 7 Mar (Xinhua) – Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CCP Central Committee, state president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, Wu Bangguo, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), Wen Jiabao, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and premier of the State Council, Jia Qinglin, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Wu Guanzheng, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and secretary of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission, Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee, and Luo Gan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and secretary of the Central Commission of Political Science and Law, separately joined the deliberation and discussion of some delegations to the fifth session of the 10th NPC and the fifth session of the 10th CPPCC National Committee on 7 March.

On the afternoon of 7 March, Hu Jintao called on members of the CPPCC National Committee from trade unions, Communist Youth League committees, youth federations and women’s federations and joined their joint-group discussion. The committee members tried to speak ahead of others and actively made suggestions and proposals. The atmosphere of the meeting was very lively. After seriously listening to the speeches by 14 committee members, including Hai Fei, Zhang Junjiu, Mo Wenxiu and Feng Gong, Hu Jintao said: Building a socialist harmonious society is a complicated and formidable system engineering. Only by mobilizing the broad masses of the people to jointly participate in it will it be possible to turn this magnificent goal into reality. Building a socialist harmonious society is a great cause that benefits all the people. Only by enabling the broad masses of the people to constantly obtain actual benefits from the building of a harmonious society will it be possible for the building of a harmonious society to become the conscious action of the broad masses of the people. He Jintao emphasized that it is imperative to, under the leadership of the party, respect the position of the people as the main body and respect their creative spirit, inspire to the greatest extent the enthusiasm for participation and the creative vigour of the broad masses of the people, properly realize, protect and develop to the greatest extent the fundament interests of the broad masses of the people, enable the principle of jointly building and jointly enjoying a harmonious society to run through the whole process of building a harmonious society, and really ensure jointly enjoying it while jointly building it, and jointly building it while jointly enjoying it. Hu Jintao emphasized that the mass work is our party’s political advantage and fine tradition. Under the new situation in which reform and development have entered a crucial period, it is especially important to strengthen and improve the mass work. Organizations of workers, youths and women are important forces for the party to carry out mass work. They should give full play to their role of organizing the masses in the building of a socialist harmonious society and mobilize the broad masses of workers, youths and women to enthusiastically plunge themselves into the practice of building a socialist harmonious society; they should give full play to their role of guiding the masses and strive to develop among the broad masses of the people a solid common ideological and moral foundation; they should give full play to their role of serving the masses, do more solid work to benefit the masses and help the masses overcome their difficulties; they should give full play to their role of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the masses, listen to the wishes of the people, reflect the demands of the people, and make positive contribution to enabling the people to jointly building and jointly enjoy a harmonious society. Jia Qinglin also joined the discussion.

On the morning of 7 March, Wu Bangguo first joined the deliberation of the Hong Kong delegation and then joined the deliberation of the Macau delegation. The Hong Kong delegation had an enthusiastic discussion. After seriously listening to the speeches by Tsang Hin Chi, Leung Ping Chung, Tsang Tak Sing and other deputies, Wu Bangguo said: In December last year, I went to Hong Kong to attend the opening ceremony of the Telecom World 2006 of the International Telecommunication Union. Within a limited span of time, I went to see many places, had broad contacts with the people of various social sectors of Hong Kong, and experienced the increased prosperity of the market in Hong Kong. The residents had their minds further eased and they had greater confidence in the future. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has led the government of the special administrative region in striving to practice the idea of “Strong Governance for the People” and concentrating efforts on developing the economy and improving the people’s living standard. Practice has proved that this conforms with the reality of Hong Kong and the fundamental interests of the public of Hong Kong. The Central Government has fully affirmed the work of Mr Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and the government of the special administrative region, and will continue to adhere to the principles of “one country, two systems,”"Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong” and a high degree of autonomy, go all out to support the chief executive and the government of the special administrative region in their efforts to carry out administration according to law, further strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong in trade, economy and other areas, and jointly build a better and more beautiful Hong Kong. While joining the discussion of the Macao delegation, Wu Bangguo spoke after seriously listening to the speeches by Wu Shih-ming, Pan Yu-lan, Kao Kai-hsien and other deputies. He said that Macau’s economy has developed rapidly, the residents live and work in peace and contentment, various ethnic groups get along with each other harmoniously, the public and the investors have full confidence in the future. The Central Government has fully affirmed the work of Chief Executive Edmundo Ho Hau Wah and the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region. We hope the people of various social sectors in Macau will continue to make great efforts to support the work of Mr Edmundo Ho Hau Wah and the government of the special administrative region and promote big progress in various undertakings of Macau. Wu Bangguo also pointed out that over a long time, the NPC deputies of Hong Kong and Macau have actively participated in the management of state affairs, actively supported the administration according to law of the special administrative regions, and made important contribution to the long-term prosperity and stability of the special administrative regions. He hoped the deputies will further bring into play their advantages of having a wide field of vision, extensive contacts and outstanding special knowledge, strengthen investigation and study, perform their duties according to law, continue to play their active role in the social and political life of the special administrative regions, and play an exemplary role in the practice of safeguarding and implementing the Basic Laws.

On the morning of 7 March, Wen Jiabao joined the deliberation of the Hebei delegation. Guo Gengmao, Wu Sihai, Wang Tianyi and other deputies delivered a speech one after another on pushing forward the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, promoting jointly enjoying the policy for the core area of the Bohai- Rim Economic Circle, stepping up the work to help poverty-stricken areas shake off poverty, and pushing forward the construction of the Caofeidian Recycle Economy Demonstration Zone. After listening to the speeches of the deputies, Wen Jiabao said that persistently putting the scientific development concept in command of the overall situation of economic and social development, maintaining steady and relatively rapid economic development, and preventing ups and downs are the basic focus of attention and major tasks of the economic work this year and are also the basis for promoting the development of various social undertakings and the building of a socialist harmonious society. To achieve this, it is necessary to make greater efforts to readjust the economic structure, change the mode of growth, and solve the problems of unbalanced, uncoordinated, unstable and unsustainable economic development. It is especially important to attach importance to saving energy and reducing consumption and the discharge of pollutants.

On the morning of 7 March, Wu Guanzheng joined the deliberation of the Liaoning delegation. The deputies had a heated discussion, centring round the agenda of the session and in light of their respective reality. Their speeches touched upon the topics of building a socialist new countryside, developing the equipment manufacturing industry, promoting employment and reemployment, and speeding up the transformation of areas in which the people live in sheds. Wu Guanzheng seriously listened to the speeches of the deputies and jotted down the key points of their speeches from time to time. After the speeches of Li Keqiang, Liu Qiang, Zhang Wencheng and other deputies, Wu Guanzheng aired his views on further pushing forward the innovation of structure and mechanisms and making greater efforts to prevent and deal with corruption at the source.

On the afternoon of 7 March, Li Changchun joined the deliberation of the Inner Mongolia delegation. The atmosphere of the meeting was enthusiastic. The deputies tried to speak ahead others. Yang Jing, Zhao Hui, Ting Ba Ter and other deputies spoke freely and to their hearts’ content about speeding up the economic and social development of the border areas and ethnic areas, strengthening cultural construction and other topics. Li Changchun listened carefully to the speeches of the deputies, asked about the situation concerned from time to time, and put forth his views on unswervingly using the scientific development concept to arm ourselves, guide practice, promote work, and to develop the western region, regarding it as a powerful spiritual propelling force and theoretical guideline.

On the afternoon of 7 March, Luo Gan joined the deliberation of the Tianjin delegation. The deputies had a heated discussion on the Government Work Report and other documents and put forward their suggestions and proposals on promoting the building of a socialist new countryside, strengthening the building of democracy and the legal system, promoting fairness in education, speeding up the development of the Tianjin Binhai New Area and other issues. After seriously listening to the speeches of Cui Shiguang, He Zhiyu, Zhao Mei, and other deputies, Luo Gan aired his views on implementing the scientific development concept, correctly handling the relationship between reform, development and stability, and strengthening the building of socialist democracy and politics.

Liu Yunshan, member of the Political Bureau, member of the Secretariat, and head of the Propaganda Department, of the CCP Central Committee, Zhang Lichang, member of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and secretary of the Tianjin Municipal CCP Committee, and Vice-Chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee Cheng Siwei, Gu Xiulian, Sheng Huaren, Lu Yongxiang, Uyunqimg, and Vice- Chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee Wang Zhongyu, Liao Hui, Luo Haocai and Li Meng also separately joined the deliberation and discussion of the above delegations.

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