7. Intensifying government self-improvement and making the government better able to manage overall economic and social development

Achievements were made in reforming the government and intensifying its self-improvement over the past year, but they still fall considerably short of what the people expect. The functions of government have not yet been completely transformed. Administrative efficiency needs to rise. Formalism and bureaucratism are still pronounced. Corruption remains a serious problem in some localities, departments and areas. Tremendous effort is needed to solve all these problems. We need to focus on the overall objectives of sustaining economic growth, ensuring people's well-being and maintaining stability, and intensify the work of government self-improvement.

We will continue to run the government in accordance with the law. We will standardize government administration, ensure that our administration is based on law and reason, executed through proper procedures, highly efficient, convenient for the public, honest and trustworthy, and that authority and responsibility are united. We will thoroughly implement the Administrative Permit Law, continue to carry out reform of the administrative examination and approval system, reduce the number of items it covers, especially investment examination and approval and project approval, and ensure that enterprises make their own investment decisions. We will promote fair competition, break regional blockades and industry monopolies, and organize and mobilize all social resources to promote economic growth. By ensuring that all government departments fully and properly execute their functions, we will create a favorable environment for development, and increase enterprises' confidence in investment, individuals' confidence in consumption and people's confidence in the development of the country.

We will make decisions scientifically and democratically. In all decisions we make, the procedures need to be lawful and standardized, the process democratic and open, and the results scientific and equitable. In formulating and implementing major government policies and decisions, we need to conduct thorough research and studies, heed people's concerns, solicit their opinions, pool their wisdom, act in accordance with objective laws, and make our policies and decisions more foresighted, scientific and effective. We need to make government affairs more open and transparent. We will ensure the people's right to stay informed about, to participate in, to express views on, and to oversee government affairs, and keep them informed as to what the government is thinking and doing so that we can win their thorough understanding, wide support and active participation. The government is investing a large sum of money and launching numerous new projects this year, and we will ensure they receive proper oversight. We will prohibit image projects that waste both human and financial resources and vanity projects that are divorced from reality, and will never allow any organization or individual to exploit the surge in public spending for private gain. Governments at all levels must conscientiously subject themselves to the oversight by the people's congresses and the democratic oversight by the CPPCC committees at their corresponding levels. We will tighten professional oversight by supervision and auditing departments, and attach great importance to oversight by the public and the news media. We will strive to make sure that oversight takes place wherever administrative power is exercised and that government funds will be audited wherever they are used.

We will earnestly improve our conduct. Governments at all levels need to resolutely implement the policy decisions and arrangements of the central leadership, stay firmly grounded in reality, and work creatively to ensure all policies are carried out fully and effectively. Leading cadres need to conduct thorough research and studies to promptly discover and resolve problems, maintain close contact with the people, show concern for their sufferings, listen to their opinions, and help them solve their problems. Government employees need to always maintain high morale, embody a vigorous spirit and work with the people to meet challenges head on, break new ground through hard work and tide over bad times together.

We will strengthen our efforts to promote clean government and combat corruption. We will focus on standardizing institutions and limiting the exercise of power, and prevent and punish corruption at its source in areas and links prone to corruption. We will resolutely investigate and prosecute corruption cases and punish corruptionists in accordance with the law. We must discharge our duties with great diligence and, through our actions and achievements, build a government that is for the people and is pragmatic, clean and efficient to satisfy people's needs and win their trust.

Fellow Deputies,

Promoting unity among all ethnic groups and achieving common development and prosperity serves the fundamental interests of the people of all our ethnic groups. We will fully implement the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy and ensure that the policies and measures of the central government supporting economic and social development of ethnic minorities and ethnic minority areas are effectively implemented. We will continue to increase support to ethnic groups with small populations. We will expand coverage of the "bring prosperity to border areas and residents" campaign to all border counties and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps' regimental pastures and farms in border areas. We will support more rapid development of pastoral areas and ethnic minority mountain regions. We will unswervingly uphold national unity and further develop socialist ethnic relations based on equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony.

We will fully implement the Party's basic principles on work related to religions and enable religious figures and people with religious belief to play a positive role in promoting economic and social development.

We will diligently implement the Party's policy on matters related to overseas Chinese nationals and support overseas Chinese nationals, returned overseas Chinese and their relatives in showing concern for and participating in the modernization and peaceful reunification of the motherland.

Last year significant progress was made in the modernization of national defense and the army. The People's Liberation Army played an important role in safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, supporting its modernization drive, and completing urgent, difficult, dangerous and daunting tasks. In the coming year, we need to make our army more revolutionary, modern and standardized, focusing on enabling it to fully carry out its historic missions in the new stage and in the new century. We will strengthen ideological and political work in the army. We will effectively transform our military training based on mechanized warfare to military training for warfare under conditions of greater IT application, and continue to enhance the army's ability to respond to multiple security threats and accomplish a diverse array of military tasks. We will modernize weapons, equipment and logistics support across the board. We will improve defense-related research, the weapons and equipment production system, the military personnel training system, and the army's logistics support system that integrate civilian with military purposes and combine military efforts with civilian support. We will actively and steadily carry out reform of the army to inject more vigor and vitality into army building. We will intensify the improvement of the People's Armed Police Force to make it better able to carry out its duties, respond to emergencies, combat terrorism and safeguard stability. We will strengthen defense mobilization and reserve forces. We will strengthen and develop unity between the army and the government and between the army and the people.

Fellow Deputies,

We will unswervingly adhere to the principle of "one country, two systems" under which Hong Kong people administer Hong Kong and Macao people administer Macao with a high degree of autonomy, and fully support the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions in actively responding to the global financial crisis and maintaining their prosperity and stability. We will increase cooperation between the mainland and the two regions, consolidate Hong Kong's position as an international financial center and promote an appropriate level of diversity in Macao's economy. We will accelerate the pilot program for the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao to use RMB as the settlement currency for trade in goods. We will constantly deepen and expand cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. We will accelerate construction of infrastructure such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Airport Rail Link and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. We will give Hong Kong and Macao greater access to the mainland's service sector. We will adopt effective measures to support development of Hong Kong- and Macao-funded enterprises on the mainland, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, and help ease their difficulties. The great motherland will always provide strong backing to Hong Kong and Macao. We firmly believe that our compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao will surmount their current difficulties and create an even brighter future.

Last year important progress was made in our Taiwan-related work. Positive changes occurred in the situation in Taiwan, and major breakthroughs were made in cross-Straits relations. Consultations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits were resumed on the basis of the 1992 Consensus, and complete, direct and two-way mail, transport and trade links were established. The two sides enjoyed more frequent people-to-people exchanges, closer economic ties, more active cultural exchanges and broader common interests. Cross-Straits relations have embarked on the track of peaceful development. In the coming year, we will continue to adhere to the principle of developing cross-Straits relations and promoting peaceful reunification of the motherland. We will remain committed to the goal of peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, and work actively to build a framework for and strive to achieve new progress in the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations. We will continue to comprehensively strengthen cross-Straits economic cooperation to jointly respond to the global financial crisis. We will actively promote financial cooperation across the Straits, support the development of Taiwan-funded enterprises on the mainland, provide financing services for qualified ones, and encourage their independent innovation, transformation and upgrading. We will strengthen two-way investment and industrial cooperation and expand and deepen agricultural cooperation between the two sides. We will support economic development on the west coast of the Straits in Fujian Province and in other areas where Taiwan investment is concentrated. We will accelerate normalization of cross-Straits economic relations and facilitate the signing of a comprehensive agreement on economic cooperation, and gradually establish economic cooperation mechanisms tailored to both sides of the Straits. We will increase contacts between individuals, expand exchanges among all sectors of society, vigorously promote Chinese culture and consolidate the common cultural bonds between the two sides. We will work on the basis of the one-China principle to enhance mutual political trust between the two sides. Based on this, we are ready to make fair and reasonable arrangements through consultation on the issue of Taiwan's participation in the activities of international organizations. We are also ready to hold talks on cross-Straits political and military issues and create conditions for ending the state of hostility and concluding a peace agreement between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. We are convinced that, with the concerted efforts of the people on both sides of the Straits, we will achieve complete reunification of the motherland and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Fellow Deputies,

Significant achievements were made in our diplomatic work last year. We joined hands with the international community in tackling the global financial crisis. We successfully hosted the Asia-Europe Meeting and enhanced mutual political trust and pragmatic cooperation between Asian and European countries. We actively advanced bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, and played a constructive role in global and regional hotspot issues. We stood firm in safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and development interests and in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals and corporations overseas. Further significant progress was made in carrying out all-round diplomacy, and China's international standing and influence rose to a new height. In the coming year, we will continue to hold high the banner of peace, development and cooperation, adhere to the path of peaceful development and an independent foreign policy of peace, and pursue an open strategy of mutual benefit. We will increase friendly contacts with other countries in the world to create a favorable external environment for the steady and rapid development of China's economy. We will continue to deepen pragmatic cooperation with other parties, work with them to curb the spread of the global financial crisis, promote reform of the international financial system, and oppose trade and investment protectionism, in order to help bring about an early recovery of the world economy. We will continue to take the fundamental interests of the people of China and the world as our starting point and make new contributions to the proper resolution of hotspot issues and global problems. The Chinese government and people stand ready to work with the governments and peoples of other countries to jointly respond to risks and challenges, share development opportunities, and build a harmonious world of durable peace and common prosperity.

Fellow Deputies,

The tasks we face are arduous and formidable, and the responsibilities we bear are great and glorious. Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as General Secretary, let us strengthen our conviction for victory, boldly meet challenges, work in a down-to-earth manner and press ahead resolutely to make new achievements worthy of the times, history and the people, carry forward the great cause of reform, opening up and modernization and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2009)