Building social harmony "is a major strategic move taken by the Party to build a fair and just society and attain sustainable social and economic development," Wu Zhongmin, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told Xinhua.

The Chinese society is divided by a yawning wealth gap, and soaring prices of medical services, housing and education, combined with inadequate social security network and rising unemployment among new grads, are making people more anxious about their future, he said. To solve these problems, the CPC first pledged to shape a "more harmonious society" in its 16th national congress in late 2002, and explicitly made a call to "build a harmonious society" in 2004 in a plenum. General Secretary Hu Jintao defined it as a democratic society under the rule of law, a society based on equity and justice, an honest and caring society and stable, vigorous and orderly society in which humans live in harmony with the nature.

Political analysts said this CPC meeting's focus on social harmony would be greatly helpful to resolving the pressing issues in China, and will provide theoretical guidance for national development in the long run.

Such views are vindicated by the Party document issued Wednesday. Building a harmonious society is a major strategic task under the guidance of Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the Important Thought of "Three Represents," reflects the inherent requirement for the modernization drive and the common aspiration of Chinese people of all ethnic groups, said the communique.

NATIONAL CONGRESS

The plenum also made a decision on the convention of the 17th national congress of the CPC, which will elect a new CPC Central Committee to lead the country for a term of five years. The meeting will be held in the second half of 2007 in Beijing.

The national congress, to be held at a crucial period of China's economic and social development, "will be of vital importance for the Party to unite and lead all the Chinese people" in building a comparatively prosperous society and accelerating the nation's modernization drive, the plenum said.

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