Zhu made the call while delivering the Report on the Work of the Government at the opening of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Tuesday.

Thoroughly rectifying and regulating the order of the market economy is urgently needed to expand domestic demand and ensure sound economic growth, he stressed.

The premier said that this is an inevitable choice China should make in consequence of its entry into the WTO and the new steps taken to open the country to the outside world. This is also an important measure to improve the socialist market economic system, upon which success or failure of China's modernization hinges, he added.

On the basis of the initial results achieved last year, China should press ahead with this task with a still greater resolve and even more effective measures, he said, noting that the work should be carried out in an all-round way while emphasizing key points.

The government should pay great attention to the current outstanding problems and concentrate on the following tasks:

First, China should severely crack down on all illegal and criminal activities related to the production and sale of counterfeit and shoddy goods, especially food, medicines and medical apparatus that seriously endanger people's lives and health.

Second, China should continue rectifying and standardizing the markets for construction and cultural products and the order of finance and taxation.

Unremitting efforts must be made to combat such crimes as tax fraud and evasion, evading foreign exchange control, obtaining foreign currency through deception, pyramid selling and smuggling. Such violations of the law as forging invoices and vouchers and falsifying accounts must be dealt with severely.

China will regulate and standardize accounting firms and other intermediary service organizations. The government will make great efforts to rectify the order of the tourism market.

Third, the financial order has to be thoroughly rectified. The authorities will earnestly investigate and deal with business activities that violate laws and regulations concerning banks, securities and insurance companies, and other financial institutions.

China will resolutely ban illegal financial institutions and illegal financial activities. Financial swindling, illegal fund- raising, manipulation of the securities market, insider trading, and malicious evasion and cancellation of debts should be investigated and dealt with according to law.

Fourth, local protectionism and monopoly of industries must be eliminated. The government will deal with and stop, according to law, the acts of abusing privileges to set up trade barriers, obstruct commodity circulation and impede fair competition.

China will continue to tighten management of the market for finished oil and market fairs. The government will launch campaigns to rectify prices and fees.

Fifth, the management of industrial and traffic safety will be strengthened. The safety responsibility system should be improved. To prevent major industrial accidents, the government will take effective measures to correct supervision and performance of work that violate safety rules and regulations.

The government will tighten supervision and management over the entire process of handling dangerous chemicals and inflammable and explosive materials from production, marketing, transport and warehousing to use.

Factories and mines that produce inferior products, contaminate the environment, damage resources or do not meet production safety standards must without exception be shut down in accordance with the law.

In rectifying and standardizing the order of the market economy, the government will concentrate on investigating major cases and severely punish those guilty of crimes or corruption.

According to the premier, in its efforts to rectify and regulate the order of the market economy, the government will try to seek both temporary and permanent solutions while focusing on the permanent solution.

The qualifications of all kinds of market entities should be carefully examined to properly control market access. Government departments at all levels must sever their ties with enterprises and intermediary organs in accordance with relevant regulations.

Zhu said that the government will further take effective measures to implement the regulations on separately managing the receipts and expenditures of administrative charges and incomes from imposition of fines and confiscation.

Comprehensive and departmental budgets should be prepared to ensure that all departments have sufficient funds to perform their duties according to law and strictly enforce the law.

He pledged to strengthen the rule of law, improve the regulations linking administrative penalties to criminal investigation and prosecution, resolutely prevent and correct the acts of failing to punish lawbreakers and replacing punishment with imposing a fine, and deal with violations of the law more severely.

China will solve problems of law enforcement involving authorities at different levels or various government departments at the same level and improve the system of responsibility for law enforcement and the system of accountability, he said.

China will effectively improve social credibility and gradually develop moral standards throughout society based on honesty and moral integrity, he noted.

The premier said that China will accelerate the establishment of credibility records for enterprises, intermediary agencies and individuals, making those with a record of bad conduct pay a price for what they have done, and have their credibility ruined and even punishing them according to law.

China will extensively apply modern means of supervision, utilize online information, establish interconnected networks and share information, he said.

China will accelerate the reform of the system of distributing goods and develop modern methods of distribution to make it difficult to put counterfeits and shoddy goods on the market, according to the premier.

He made it a point that the government will give full play to the role of industrial associations and intermediary organizations, change and improve their mechanisms of self-discipline and attach importance to supervision by the general public and news media.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2002)