IV. New Requirements for Attaining the Goal of Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects

We have made steady progress toward the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects set at the Sixteenth Congress, and we will continue to work hard to ensure its attainment by 2020.

In keeping with changes in domestic and international situations and in light of the expectations of the people of all ethnic groups for a better life, we must follow the trend and laws of economic and social development, uphold the basic program consisting of the basic objectives and policies for economic, political, cultural and social development under socialism with Chinese characteristics, and set new and higher requirements for China's development on the basis of the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects set at the Sixteenth Congress.

- Promote balanced development to ensure sound and rapid economic growth. The development pattern will be significantly transformed. We will quadruple the per capita GDP of the year 2000 by 2020 through optimizing the economic structure and improving economic returns while reducing consumption of resources and protecting the environment. The socialist market economy will be improved. We will greatly enhance our capacity for independent innovation, enabling scientific and technological advancement to contribute much more to economic growth and making China an innovative country. The ratio of consumption to GDP will increase steadily, and consumption, investment and export will be coordinated to boost economic growth. A mechanism for urban and rural areas and for different regions to have balanced and interactive development and a layout of development priority zones will be basically in place. Efforts to build a new socialist countryside will make significant headway. The proportion of urban residents will notably increase.

- Expand socialist democracy and better safeguard the people's rights and interests as well as social equity and justice. Citizens' participation in political affairs will expand in an orderly way. The rule of law will be carried out more thoroughly as a fundamental principle, public awareness of law will be further enhanced, and fresh progress will be made in government administration based on the rule of law. Primary-level democracy will be improved. The government will markedly enhance its capability of providing basic public services.

- Promote cultural development and notably enhance the cultural and ethical quality of the whole nation. Socialist core values will prevail among the people, and fine ideological and ethical trends will be encouraged. A basic system of public cultural services will cover the whole society, the cultural industry will account for much more of the national economy and become more competitive internationally, and a more abundant supply of cultural products will be available to meet the people's needs.

- Accelerate the development of social programs and improve every aspect of the people's well-being. The modern system of national education will be further improved, a basic system for lifelong education will be in place, the educational attainment of the whole nation will rise to a much higher level, and the training of innovative personnel will be improved markedly. Employment will be further expanded. A basic system of social security will cover both urban and rural residents so that everyone is assured of basic living standards. A reasonable and orderly pattern of income distribution will be basically in place, with middle-income people making up the majority and absolute poverty basically eliminated. Everyone will have access to basic medical and health services. The system of social management will be further improved.

- Promote a conservation culture by basically forming an energy- and resource-efficient and environment-friendly structure of industries, pattern of growth and mode of consumption. We will have a large-scale circular economy and considerably increase the proportion of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption. The discharge of major pollutants will be brought under effective control and the ecological and environmental quality will improve notably. Awareness of conservation will be firmly established in the whole of society.

When the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects is attained by 2020, China, a large developing socialist country with an ancient civilization, will have basically accomplished industrialization, with its overall strength significantly increased and its domestic market ranking as one of the largest in the world. It will be a country whose people are better off and enjoy markedly improved quality of life and a good environment. Its citizens will have more extensive democratic rights, show higher ethical standards and look forward to greater cultural achievements. China will have better institutions in all areas and Chinese society will have greater vitality coupled with stability and unity. The country will be still more open and friendly to the outside world and make greater contributions to human civilization.

The following five years will be a crucial period for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. We must enhance our confidence and work hard to lay a more solid foundation for success in building a moderately prosperous society of a higher level in all respects to the benefit of over one billion people.