Many delegates said Jiang's address at Friday's opening session of the Party congress, which takes place every five years, encourages the nation to advance towards new goals in economic development, environmental protection and cultural progress.

But to fulfill this dream of a well-off society, more work should be devoted to closing the gap between the country's urban and rural areas, and between affluent coastal regions and poverty-ridden hinterlands, they said.

These concerns should be dealt with in the years to come, they added.

Jiang said in his address that China will concentrate on building a more well-off society in the first 20 years of this century that will benefit over 1 billion people.

"We will further develop the economy, improve democracy, advance science and education, enrich culture, foster social harmony and upgrade the texture of life for the people," he said.

Party delegate Wei Liqun, who is director of the State Council's Research Office, stressed Jiang's call for use of an all-round approach to building a well-off society which was initiated by late leader Deng Xiaoping more than 20 years ago, according to Xinhua report.

"It requires us not to simply focus on uplifting the standard of living of the public, but more importantly, to advance the economy, politics and culture across the board," Wei said.

Another delegate Wang Mengkui, director of the State Council's Development Research Center, said that economic growth is the main way to build a well-off society.

China must deal with restructuring of its economic system and usher in political and cultural reforms, he added.

Delegate Liu Deshu, also urged for the maintenance of the current fast track economy.

Liu also said he supported more enhanced opening-up policies following China's accession to the World Trade Organization last year.

"We are expecting to encounter more challenging and thorny questions and to shoulder heavier responsibilities," he said.

Chinese officials and economists have predicted that the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to quadruple by 2020 to 35 trillion yuan (US$4.24 trillion).

With an estimated per capita GDP surpassing the threshold of US$3,000 by 2020, Chinese people should see a standard of living equivalent to that of a moderately developed economy.

But delegate Tian Chengzhong also warned that imbalanced economic growth could still divide different regions and more are needed to be done to improve the lives of rural residents, poor city dwellers and people living in the country's western regions.

(China Daily November 11, 2002)