He told the closing of the session Tuesday morning that this session was another important event in China's political life following the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The deputies faithfully performed their duties as endowed by the Constitution and law and entrusted by the people, enabling the session to pass all the resolutions and decisions, fully demonstrating the people's will and representing their interests.

The government work report and other reports adopted at the current session, he said, are the summation of the great achievements and experience the third generation of collective central leadership with Jiang Zemin at the core has made in China's economic and social development, in building democracy and legal system and in other areas of endeavor over the past five years. They have also laid out plans for this year and the next five years as a whole.

The session, he noted, elected and approved the appointments of the new generation of government leadership according to law, thus providing the organizational guarantee for carrying forward the cause of the state into the future and for building a well-off society in an all round way.

He praised the 9th NPC with Li Peng as its Standing Committee chairman for its contributions to building socialist democracy and legal system. He also expressed thanks to NPC deputies and the people of the whole country for their trust in the 10th NPC, and vowed on behalf of all the deputies to perform their duties well with a high sense of responsibility, be loyal to and set an example in observing the Constitution and serve the motherland and the people in all sincerity and will never let the people down.

China is in for a new period of building a well-off society in an all-round way and accelerating the socialist modernization drive, he said. The 10th NPC and its Standing Committee will hold fast to Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of the "Three Represents," carry out the guidelines of the 16th CPC National Congress in spirit and to the letter, work to consolidate and develop the political situation featuring democracy, unity, liveliness, stability and harmony, focus on the central task of economic development and develop socialist democracy by bringing the principle of upholding Party leadership into perfect harmony with the efforts to make the people the masters of the country and to rule the country by law.

He said that the 10th NPC will build on what has been achieved in legislative work and improve the quality in the making of law. He promised to make a number of new laws and modify some existing ones in line with the new developments of the socialist market economy and the WTO rules to make the legal system basically complete within the term of the 10th NPC as required by the 16th CPC National Congress.

He also pledged greater efforts to oversee the government work and the work of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate and keep close contact with the people and NPC deputies and strictly observe the rules of procedures of the NPC and raise the level of work of the NPC Standing Committee and the NPC as a whole.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2003)