Top Chinese leader Hu Jintao has called for faster progress in national defense and military modernization in light of the country's economic development and scientific advancement.

Hu, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the call Friday afternoon during a lecture for members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, who were briefed about the new military changes in the world by two researchers from the Military Academy of Sciences of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Hu said it is the central task of the country to take advantage of the opportunities of the first two decades of this century to concentrate efforts on economic and social development, and to strive for the goal of building a well-off society in an all-around way.

The general secretary said that under no circumstance should China waver on the task, but reliable national defense capability is also needed for China to ensure its reform, opening-up and modernization drive in a complicated and changing international situation.

The global development of new and high-technology has had a subtle impact on people's life and on international political, economic and cultural relations, and it has also greatly facilitated new military changes in the world, said Hu.

He said China must improve its research into the change so as to constantly improve national defense and military modernization to safeguard the building of a more affluent society and to promote the nation's modernization drives.

Hu urged Party committees and governments at all levels to better understand the great significance of improved national defense and military modernization.

(People's Daily May 25, 2003)