First, we must always adhere to the strategic thinking that development is of overriding importance, and endeavor to pursue sustained and healthy economic development. China is still the largest developing country in the world with its per-capita GDP ranking the 84th globally. China will get nowhere unless it develops itself, as development holds the key to solving all its problems. Yet China's development must be scientific, comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable. Statistics show that the nation's first-quarter GDP rose by 7.7 percent year-on-year. In the first four months of this year, employment in cities and towns increased by 4.7 million, 180,000 more than the same period last year, while consumer prices rose by 2.4 percent, down by 1.3 percentage points, and imports and exports grew by 14 percent, 8 percentage points higher than the the same period last year. All these figures indicate that the Chinese economy has been growing in a generally steady fashion, something that has not come by easily. We must take scientific development as our theme, focus on accelerating the transformation of the development model, make steady advancement in our work, and continue to adopt a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy. We must be good at bottom-line thinking, and always keep the larger picture in mind. We must never lay undue emphasis on the speed of growth. Instead, we must ensure steady development and work on that basis to solve problems, guard against inflation and keep risks under control. We need to concentrate on improving the quality and efficiency of development, and ensure the development moves ahead steadily and produces good results. We will work to simultaneously advance industrialization, IT-application, urbanization, and agricultural modernization. We will further expand consumer demand, foster new highlights of consumption, and improve the long-term mechanisms that support sustained consumption growth. We will try to bring into play the important role of rational investment in driving economic growth, and lend full support to the growth of high-tech, startup and export-oriented companies and companies of medium to small and micro sizes, in order to ensure that the Chinese economy is headed in the right direction in its growth.

Second, we will accelerate change to the development model and vigorously improve and optimize the economic structure. Both at the current stage and in the future, an extensive development model is neither feasible nor sustainable, and we must therefore pursue long-term development through economic transformation. We will endeavor to accomplish this important mission of adjusting the structure, shifting the development model and facilitating economic transition. We will speed up China's agricultural modernization, and guarantee national food security and effective supply of major farm produce. We will implement innovation- based development strategies and promote the growth of high-tech companies and emerging industries of strategic importance. We will work hard to curb excess capacity, strengthen incremental management, firmly forbid new projects in industries with excess capacity, terminate projects under construction that are in violation of government regulations, contain the blind expansion of highly-polluting enterprises with high energy consumption, and strive to formulate well-targeted plans to readjust and optimize inventory stocks. We will support the speedy development of the service sector, especially modern service businesses, increase the proportion of the service industry in the national economy, and set up a new system for growth of modern industries.

Third, we will further enforce the comprehensive strategy for regional development, and accelerate the development and opening up of the central and western regions. One of the major problems China faces today is regional income disparity and imbalanced development. Blessed with a vast territory, abundant resources and huge potential for development, China's central and western regions provide important strategic space for development, convenient leeway as well as new points of economic growth. During the past decade or so, China has made remarkable achievements in developing these regions through its strategy for the development of the western region. We will make even greater efforts to press ahead the development and opening up of the central and western regions, particularly the western region, draw up layout plans for regional development, and work out more effective policies and measures to speed up the construction of major transportation networks between the regions. We will develop local industries with competitive edge, and push forward the development of green, recyclable and low-carbon industries, so that the resources advantages the central and western regions now enjoy will add to their economic strength. We will also support the transfer of some industries in the more developed eastern regions to the western regions, make overall plans on coordinated national and regional development, advance urbanization actively yet steadily, and well exploit the potentials of the process to boost domestic demand, promote economic growth and improve people's livelihood. I believe that a new wave of western region development and opening up will add greater vitality to the Chinese economy, and help resolve the problem of imbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development in due course. (Mo

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