II-3 Question: Building a harmonious society has become a hot topic in China since 2006. Does that mean that Chinese society still has some inharmonious factors? What are the objectives for building a harmonious society?

A: China is a harmonious society in general. Yet, the rapid economic growth, readjustment of interest relations and social transformation over the last two decades or so have unavoidably triggered some problems that have harmed social harmony. They mainly include the widening income gap, inadequate social security guarantees, rising costs of medical services, housing and education, and difficulty finding a job for college graduates. These have led to mounting anxiety among the public about their future. The government put forward the plan for building a harmonious society with an aim to ease the public anxiety. The move, which conforms to the national conditions and the people's aspirations, is not only conducive to the sustainable development of the economy and society, but also crucial to social security.

The harmonious society to be built is to be a democratic society under the rule of law, a society based on equity and justice, an honest and caring society, a society full of vigor and a stable and orderly society in which humans live in harmony with nature. For this purpose, main objectives have been set as follows:

--The socialist democracy and legal system is further improved, the fundamental principle of administering the country by law is implemented in an all-round way, and people enjoy earnest respect and guarantee for their rights and interests;

--The trend of widening gap between urban and rural development and development between different regions is gradually reversed, a reasonable and orderly income distribution pattern is basically shaped, the wealth of households nationwide increases in general, and people lead more affluent lives;

--Employment rate is relatively high and a social security system that covers both urban and rural residents takes initial shape;

--The basic public service system is further improved and the government administration and service levels are significantly bettered;

--The ideological and ethical standards, cultural and scientific levels and health status of the whole nation are improved markedly and further progress is made in fostering sound social ethics and harmonious interpersonal relationships;

--The creativity of society as a whole is enhanced and an innovation-based country is established in general;

--Public administration system is further improved and public order is in good shape;

--Efficiency of resources utilization is increased considerably and noticeable improvement in ecological environment is achieved; and

--The objective of building a moderately prosperous society of higher level in an all-round way to benefit the Chinese people of more than 1 billion is realized and efforts are made to create an environment in which all people do their best according to their abilities, are provided for and live in harmony.

Social harmony is the intrinsic element of socialism with Chinese characteristics. To build a harmonious society not only requires a solid material foundation, but also calls for improvement of industrial, employment, education and health policies and social security schemes. For this purpose, China will give priority to transforming the government functions for better administration capability and improving public service, with an aim of solving the problems that most keenly affect people's immediate interests. Meanwhile, it will provide institutional guarantees for social equality, further narrow wealth gaps, improve the employment situation and push forward reforms in health, education and social security sectors. China expects to see the main objectives and tasks for building a harmonious socialist society be achieved by the year 2020.

(China.org.cn)