Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday joined panel discussions with the country's lawmakers and political advisors on national issues.

Deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, and members of National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top advisory body, are here to attend the annual full sessions of the two organs.

CPPCC National Committee Chairman Jia Qinglin and other senior officials including Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan also participated in such discussions.

They are all in the nine-member Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the top decision-making body of the ruling party.

"We should always give top priority to and properly resolve issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, make efforts to build new countryside and promote the formation of new industry-agriculture and urban-rural relations so as to create a new situation for the work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers," said the president while discussing with advisors from the agricultural sector.

It would be a central task to steadily increase the income of farmers, Hu added.

While joining lawmakers from Hong Kong and Macao in group discussions on Tuesday morning, Wu Bangguo said that the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region assumes the supreme legal status in Hong Kong, and all legislative, administrative and judicial activities in Hong Kong must accord with the Basic Law.

Joining discussions with deputies from the prosperous Zhejiang Province in East China on Tuesday morning, Premier Wen stressed the importance of pressing ahead with reform and opening-up, improving the basic economic system of taking public ownership as the mainstay and fostering the development of all economic sectors.

"We should create a fair, just and transparent development environment for all enterprises," he said.

Jia Qinglin, China's top political advisor, called for enough attention to the important role of private economic sectors in boosting socialism with Chinese characteristics.

"We should be more conscientious and resolute in promoting the development of private economic sectors," he added.

In other panel discussions, senior officials Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan discussed with the lawmakers and political advisors about issues such as building a harmonious society, environment and resources protection, promoting energy industry and legislative work.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2006)