Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Wednesday called on members of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association to assist the government's drive to build a harmonious society.

Hui made the appeal while addressing a meeting marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the association.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), attended the meeting.

Hui said that in the past 50 years, the association has achieved a lot in training the young, enhancing exchanges with foreign counterparts, maintaining the lawful rights of the Catholics, as well as promoting public welfare undertakings.

The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association has funded the building of nearly 70 elementary schools, about 30 kindergartens and more than 200 medical clinics across the country, statistics show.

Hui urged the association to unite the masses of religious people, upgrade their working capacity, and contribute more to the building of "socialism with Chinese characteristics."

China has seen Catholic believers swell from no more than 2 million five decades ago to more than 5.3 million at present.

(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2007)