Zhang was reading news about the upcoming 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), scheduled to open on November 8 in Beijing, at a public newspaper showcase near the Great Hall of the People, venue for China's major conferences.

With its opening date drawing near, the 16th Party Congress has become a common topic in daily chats of more and more ordinary people across the country.

Said Jia Jianxin, a taxi driver in the Chinese capital, "The employment issue concerns me most, and I hope the Party Congress will find a way to create more jobs for us."

The 22-year-old young man said that the Chinese government had achieved conspicuous success in developing the national economy and that it would be better if a "balanced progress" could be achieved in culture and other social areas.

Huang Jianping, general manager of Weimei Ceramics Co. Ltd. in Dongguan City of south China's Guangdong province, attributed his past success to the country's policy encouraging the development of the private sector.

"We hope the 16th Party Congress will adopt more open policies toward the growth of non-state sectors. This will make us feel more reassured," said Huang, whose company now boasts over 100 million RMB yuan (US$12 million) in annual sales.

Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong and Macao, now tops the country with a total of 198,000 registered private businesses.

In China's largest city Shanghai, Zhu Hong, a staff member of the Shanghai branch of Canada-based Nortel Corporation, bought from a roadside newsstand a copy of "Reference News", a Beijing-published newspaper mainly carrying translated foreign media reports.

"I want to learn the latest comments on the Party Congress from overseas," said Zhu, who just completed his MBA (master of business administration) study in Canada early this year.

Zhu said that for people who had returned to China after studying abroad, the top concern would always be what development opportunities they could find and get at home and how to achieve individual success. "I wish the congress will also pay attention to our concerns," he added.

Some 400,000 Chinese have gone abroad for study since China started its reform and opening up drive in the late 1970s, and nearly 140,000 of them have returned after completing their studies.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2002)