16th CPC Central Committee Holds 7th Plenum, Issues Communiqué

The Seventh Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held from October 9 to 12 in Beijing.

It was decided at the plenum that the 17th CPC National Congress be convened from October 15 in Beijing, according to a communiqué of the plenum issued on Friday.

A total of 190 members and 152 alternate members of the CPC Central Committee attended the four-day plenum, with members of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and leading officials of relevant departments attending as non-voting members.

The plenum was presided over by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, and he delivered an important speech.

Hu, entrusted by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made a work report which was discussed and approved at the plenum.

The plenum also discussed and approved a report, which will be presented by the 16th CPC Central Committee to the 17th Party Congress, as well as an amendment to the Constitution of the CPC.

Both documents will be submitted to the 17th Party Congress for discussions, the plenum decided.

Hu made an explanation to the plenum on the draft report, and Wu Bangguo, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made an explanation on the draft amendment to the CPC Constitution.

The plenum made a positive assessment on the work of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee since the Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee held last October, according to the communiqué.

It held that guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of "Three Represents", the Political Bureau had implemented the spirits of previous six plenums of the 16th CPC Central Committee and the 16th Party Congress and deeply carried out "the scientific concept of development".

The communiqué says the Political Bureau pushed forward "an overall development of the socialist economic, political, cultural and social construction" and the "great project of the Party building" by "promoting scientific development and social harmony, strengthening macroeconomic control, adjusting economic structures, transforming development style, boosting energy saving and environmental protection, pushing reform and innovation, advancing social development and trying hard to address problems concerning the public's life".

It says the Party has "taken a firm stride" toward the goal of "an overall building of a moderately prosperous society" set in the 16th Party congress in 2002, and "created better conditions" for the convention of the 17th Party congress.

The plenum summarized the Party's work over the past five years and agreed that the past five years was an "unordinary" period, it said.

"Facing a changeful and complicated international environment and shouldering an arduous task of reform and development, the Party has led people of all ethnic groups to conquer various difficulties and risks," the communiqué says.

It says the country's economic strength was greatly enhanced, the reform and opening-up achieved major breakthrough, people's life was greatly improved, the legal and democratic system construction made new progress, the cultural construction opened new prospects and the development of national defense made historical achievement.

Hong Kong and Macao have continued to maintain prosperity and stability and more efforts have been made to solve the Taiwan issue, it says, adding a multi-faceted diplomacy "achieved great progress" and the Party has seen "steadily developed", all of which opened new prospects for the socialist cause with the Chinese characteristics.

The plenum also appointed Zhu Zuliang, Du Xuefang, Yang Chuantang and Qiu Yanhan, four alternate members of the 16th CPC Central Committee, to full members.