China will continue to concentrate on economic construction and seize the strategic opportunities afforded by the first 20 years of this century to speed up the country's development, said President Hu Jintao Tuesday.

Hu, also the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the call during his inspection tour of South China's Guangdong Province.

Since Thursday, Hu has visited local firms, city communities, harbors, villager's homes and army units in, among other cities, Zhanjiang, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou, accompanied by provincial party and government leaders.

Hu urged Party officials to push forward with reforms by accelerating the innovation of systems to further open up to the outside and develop an export orientated economy.

He said the eastern parts of China, together with Guangdong Province, are entering a new development phase, one which poses fresh challenges and opportunities. With the help of scientific and technological innovation and efficient management of human resources, the area should be able to set an example for the construction of both a material and culturally prosperous civilization.

The general secretary urged all Party officials to devote their lives and efforts to helping to improve the well-being of the people they have been appointed to represent.

He said every Party member should bear in mind the Party's principal purpose that whole-hearted service to the people was a fundamental mission of the CPC.

Topping the agenda, he said, is the need to care for the lives of the people, whether they are in poverty-stricken regions or economically better-off areas.

(China Daily April 16, 2003)