Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, said Friday that China has entered a new development era of building an overall well-to-do society, in which the country should accelerate the pace of socialist modernization.

Jiang made the important speech at the graduation ceremony of the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

He said that in this new era, all CPC members and people from all works of life should devote themselves to the cause of building the socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Perfection of Socialist Ownership

Jiang Zemin said it is basic to the socialist economic system to have public ownership as the core, developing together with various kinds of ownership.

Within this system, China will be able to gradually eliminate the impediments to the development of productivity, generated from an irrational ownership structure, he said.

He said CPC has arrived at this economic system through a long period of building socialism, and will stick to it.

Jiang urged the Chinese people to deepen their understanding ofthis economic system and perfect it through practice. This will bedone according to the requirements of liberating and developing productivity, he said.

Socialist Democracy is an Important Objective

Promoting socialist democratic politics is an important objective of China's socialist modernization drive, Jiang said at the graduation ceremony of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Jiang said while continuing to adhere to the Four Cardinal Principles, reform of the political system must continue to be pushed forward actively and appropriately in line with requirements of economic and social developments.

He said an important objective of this reform is to develop socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics, which will help to consolidate today's democratic, united, dynamic, stable and harmonious political atmosphere.

He said in pushing forward reform of the political system, China must proceed from its own conditions and unswervingly stick to its own political road.

He pointed out that what China needs is socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics. And China will never copy the Western political systems.

The Four Cardinal Principles mentioned in Jiang's speech are: adherence to the socialist road, the people's democratic dictatorship, Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, and the leading role of the Communist Party of China.

Acceleration of Socialist Modernization

The Chinese top leader said China needs new ideas and breakthroughs in the fields of reform and opening-up, so as to improve the national economic scale and the overall national strength.

Jiang said China has entered a new development era of building an overall well-to-do society.

Jiang said in this new era China should upgrade its economic efficiency, rely on scientific and technological advances, and improve its management and supervision to ensure the quality of economic growth.

He also stressed the importance of the implementation of a sustainable development strategy, urging the country to make efficient and rational use of natural resources and strengthen environmental and ecological protection and construction.

Jiang also placed importance on balanced regional development and balanced urban and rural development.

From the historical perspective, China must seize opportunities and make accomplishments in the favorable strategic circumstances in the first one or two decades in this century, he said.

China's present social conditions make it ready for an accelerated pace of socialist modernization development, Jiang said, calling on the whole Party to unite the whole people of all nationalities to seize the opportunity, deepen the reform and opening-up measures, boost development and maintain stability.

Emancipation of the Mind

Jiang called on the whole party to adhere to the ideological guideline of emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, and upholds the spirit of marching in step with the time.

Jiang said this ideological guideline decides the progressive nature of the Party's ruling stand, adding that the future of the country depends on whether the Party can adhere to it.

He said the whole Party should keep in mind the profound changes that have taken place in the world's political, economic, cultural and technological spheres since the publication of the "Manifesto of the Communist Party" written by Karl Marx and F. Engels some 150 years ago, as well as the fundamental changes in China's socialist construction, in people's working and life conditions and in social environment, so as to make correct judgments on how the changes challenge the work of the Party.

He said it is wrong and harmful to negate the scientific nature of Marxism and deny the achievements of the forerunners of socialism. But he also emphasized that the CPC must develop Marxism and apply it to practice.

The Party's nature can only be tested through history, to see whether it can develop advanced productivity and culture, and safeguard the basic interests of the people, Jiang said, adding that these are the two preconditions representing the wishes of the people and the essence of the cause of the building of socialism.

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