Premier Wen Jiabao has called for unswerving emancipation of the mind to boost socialism with Chinese characteristics at the ongoing 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Attending discussions of the Sichuan delegation to the congress on Monday and Tuesday, Wen said practice is the sole criterion when seeking what is truth.

To emancipate the mind, Wen said, the Party must actively explore and innovate in the practice and theoretical development of building socialism, and boldly learn from all intellectual achievements made by the human society.

What is socialism and how to build socialism are two major questions the Party faces in the emancipation of the mind, Wen said.

He called on sustained efforts to push forward economic and political restructuring, saying only if the country genuinely, constantly and fully reforms and opens itself to the outside world would China have a bright future.

The most important work for implementing the scientific outlook on development and building the harmonious society is to put people first, develop democracy, improve legal system and coordinate the relations between urban and rural areas, between different regions and between economic growth and social development, Wen said.

It has never been an easy job to build a moderately prosperous society in a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, and bettering socialism is a cause costing generations of efforts, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2007)