III. Working Hard Together with a Pioneering Spirit to Make Fresh Progress in Developing a Well-off Society in an All-Round Way

The target of building a well-off society in an all-round way was set at the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China. This is a long-term strategic task of ours and, at the same time, the point of departure and focus of our economic work this year. The key to attaining this target is to give top priority to development in governing and rejuvenating the country in accordance with the requirements of the important thought of Three Represents. We must concentrate on construction and development. We must use development to resolve difficulties and problems that may arise in our way forward. We must come up with new ideas for development, make breakthroughs in reform, break new ground in opening up and take new moves in all fields of endeavor.

To come up with new ideas for development, we must energetically promote the strategic restructuring of the economy, rely on scientific and technological advances and improvement in the overall quality of the work force, and balance the pace of development with the economic structure and the quality and efficiency of economic growth. In response to the call to build a well-off society in an all-round way, we need to make great efforts to adjust the urban-rural, regional and industrial structures to reverse the trend of widening differences between industry and agriculture, between urban and rural areas and between regions. We need to make unified plans for both urban and rural economic and social development in order to modernize agriculture and speed up urbanization. We must unremittingly promote development of the western region and bring about coordinated development of the eastern, central and western economies. We must take a new road in which IT drives industrialization, and industrialization, in turn, stimulates the application of IT. We will optimize and update the industrial structure to create an industrial pattern with high and new technology industries as the leader, with basic and manufacturing industries as the linchpin, and with service industries developing in an all-round way. We must strengthen our capability for sustainable development to ensure harmony between man and nature. The key to making new breakthroughs in reform is to improve the basic economic system, promote market-oriented reform, work persistently to eliminate institutional obstacles to development of the productive forces, and accelerate innovation in systems and mechanisms. We will unwaveringly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy and encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public sectors, integrating both in the socialist modernization drive. The basic role of the market in allocating resources will be expanded. A unified, open modern market system that ensures orderly competition will be established and improved to create an environment in which enterprises under all types of ownership can engage in fair competition. Macroeconomic regulation will be strengthened and improved. We will perfect the macroeconomic regulatory system that integrates state planning with fiscal and monetary policies and utilize all economic levers jointly to regulate the economy.

To break new ground in opening up, we need to both "bring in" and "go global" and participate in international economic and technological cooperation and competition on a broader scale, in more areas and at a higher level. By fully exploiting China's comparative advantages in labor resources and market, we will create a better investment environment to attract more foreign investment. In addition, utilization of foreign capital will be combined with the economic restructuring, reorganization and technological upgrading of state-owned enterprises and development of the western region. We will constantly improve the quality and level of the utilization of foreign capital. The material and technological foundation, channels for exchange with foreign countries and useful lessons acquired in the process of "bringing in" will be fully utilized to encourage and support relatively strong enterprises under all types of ownership to invest abroad, thereby stimulating export of goods and labor services and creating more room for economic growth. A group of strong multinational enterprises and name brands will be developed, and Chinese enterprises will be made more competitive internationally. To take new moves in all fields of endeavor, we will mainly make our work a success, focusing on deepening reform, accelerating development and safeguarding stability. We must do a good job in macroeconomic regulation and in economic monitoring and early warning to promptly pinpoint and solve major problems affecting the overall interests of the nation, or representing or indicative of unfavorable trends, so as to ensure smooth operations and sound development of the economy. We will work energetically to discover the laws governing macroeconomic regulation and seek effective ways to strengthen and improve macroeconomic regulation. Macroeconomic regulatory authorities must remain modest, prudent and free from conceit and impetuosity and preserve plain living and hard struggle in their work style. They must work earnestly to fulfill their duties, solve prominent problems in economic activities and advance the interests of the overwhelming majority of our people. We must willingly subject ourselves to the oversight and guidance of the National People's Congress, and conscientiously heed opinions and suggestions from the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. We must increase our awareness of the law and enhance our ability to act in accordance with it, never forgetting that weare obligated to serve the people as public servants. We must continue to perform our official duties legally, diligently, honestly and devotedly, and constantly improve the quality and efficiency of our work.

Fellow Deputies,

Successfully carrying out the economic work for this year will be an arduous task, but one of great significance. We must act in accordance with the requirements set at the Sixteenth National Congress of the Party and follow the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as General Secretary and the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents. We must keep up with the times and work hard with a pioneering and innovative spirit, take advantage of the favorable situation to make progress, strive to complete all the tasks for national economic and social development in 2003 and take fresh steps in building a well-off society in an all-round way.