Jia Qinglin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s Central Committee, Friday conferred with heads ofnational religious groups and offered them season's greetings on behalf of the CPC's central committee.
Jia said religious believers and atheists should unite in a bid to build an overall well-off society in China.
The current great mission for China's religious groups was to help the Party and the government carry out the Party's working principles concerning religions, help maintain national unity and social stability and lead all religious believers to build an overall well-off society, Jia said.
Tailoring the country's religions to the character of a socialist society was a major task now and in the future, he noted. All religious groups should keep pace with the times and seek to practice new development methods.
State Councilor Ismail Amet and Secretary-General of the State Council Wang Zhongyu also attended the meeting.
(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2003)
