Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top advisory body, held talks in Beijing on February 2 with China's religious leaders to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year.

China's religious work has seen great achievements last year, marked by the introduction of its first statute on religious affairs promulgated on Dec. 18. The working facilities of religious groups and institutions have been much improved, Jia said.

Moreover, Jia praised China's religious groups for their recent efforts in helping tsunami-hit countries around the Indian Ocean.

After hearing the religious leaders' speeches, Jia urged them to unite the masses of religious people, upgrade their working capacity in accordance with the law and make more contributions to the realization of a well-off society in China.

Chinese Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu, State Councilor Hua Jianmin and Vice-Chairwoman of the CPPCC National Committee Liu Yandong also attended the meeting.

The religious group leaders included Fu Tieshan, chairman of the China Patriotic Catholic Association; Yi Cheng, president of the Buddhist Association of China; Zhang Jiyu, vice-president of the Taoist Association of China; Chen Guangyuan, president of the Islamic Association of China; and Cao Shengjie, president of the China Christian Council.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2005)