"Developing socialist democracy and establishing a socialist political civilization are an important goal for building a well-off society in an all-round way," he said in a report to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Jiang said that the key to developing socialist democracy is to combine the need to uphold leadership by the Party and to ensure that the people are the masters of the country with the need to rule the country by law. Leadership by the Party is the fundamental guarantee that the people are the masters of the country and that the country is ruled by law. The people being the masters of the country constitutes the essential requirement of socialist democracy. Ruling the country by law is the basic principle the Party pursues while it leads the people in running the country.

The Constitution and other laws embody the unity of the Party's views and the people's will. No organizations or individuals are allowed to have the privilege to overstep the Constitution and other laws, Jiang said.

According to Jiang, the main tasks of political development and restructuring include: upholding and improving the systems of socialist democracy; improving the socialist legal system; reforming and improving the Party's style of leadership and governance; reforming and improving the decision-making mechanism; deepening administrative restructuring; promoting the reform of the judicial system; deepening the reform of the cadre and personnel system; tightening the restraint on and supervision over the use of power.

"It is essential to expand citizens' participation in political affairs in an orderly way, and ensure that the people go in for democratic elections and decision-making, exercise democratic management and supervision according to law and enjoy extensive rights and freedoms, and that human rights are respected and guaranteed," he said.

China should uphold and improve the system of people's congresses and ensure that their legislation and policy decisions better embody the people's will, he said. We will fully implement the Party's policy toward ethnic minorities, uphold and improve the system of regional ethnic autonomy, implement the Party's policy toward the freedom of religious belief, Jiang said.

He pointed out that all citizens must see to it that there are laws to go by, the laws are observed and strictly enforced, and law-breakers are prosecuted. China will strengthen legislation and improve its quality and will have formulated a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics by the year 2010.

China will further change the functions of the government and improve the methods of management so as to form an administrative system featuring standardized behaviors, coordinated operation, fairness and transparency, honesty and high efficiency, Jiang said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2002)