President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao joined lawmakers and political advisors from all over the country in group discussions yesterday, calling for hard work to push forward China's reform, opening-up and modernization drive.

The 10th National People's Congress (NPC), the Chinese legislature, and the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top advisory body, are holding their annual full sessions in Beijing. The session brings together more than 5,000 lawmakers and advisors.

"Deepening reform and expanding the opening-up is key to promoting the socialist modernization drive in China," said Hu, also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), while exchanging views with NPC deputies from east China's Shanghai Municipality.

"We shall unswervingly adhere to the orientation of reform and ... constantly improve the quality of the opening-up."

During discussions with legislators from east China's Jiangsu Province, Wu, chairman of the 10th NPC Standing Committee, pointed out that in order to attain the goals set for national economic and social development in the 11th Five-Year Guidelines (2006-10) period, the country must spare no efforts to develop science and technology, raise the quality of its work force, and enhance the overall innovation capability.

Referring to unbalanced development for the country's different regions, Premier Wen told the NPC deputies from Gansu, a remote, underdeveloped province in Northwest China, to be well prepared for "an arduous struggle on the way to modernization."

"We can surely make progress in boosting economic and social development in Gansu with our unremitting efforts," said Wen, who had worked in Gansu for many years as a youth.

While visiting CPPCC members from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) and joining their discussions, Jia Qinglin, chairman of the 10th CPPCC National Committee, pledged that the central authorities would continue to implement the principle of "one country, two systems." Jia also vowed to give full support to the chief executives and governments of the two SARs, and to promote "development and harmony" in Hong Kong and Macao.

Joining the discussions of lawmakers from Tianjin municipality and Shandong, Guangdong and Fujian provinces respectively, Vice-President Zeng Qinghong, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, voiced their opinions on a wide range of issues. They discussed the opening-up and development of the coastal regions, the tightening of Party discipline, the fight against corruption, the development of culture, and the protection of public security and social order.

(China Daily March 7, 2005)