More foreign media and personalities have paid great attention to the ongoing 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the report delivered by Hu Jintao, highly praising the importance of the party congress.

In Vietnam, mainstream newspapers including Nhan Dan newspaper (The People), Quan Doi Nhan Dan (The People's Army Daily) and Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi), on Tuesday all ran a front-page story on the opening of the congress.

The People also said in its commentary that China has made great achievements since the beginning of China's reform and opening up, especially since joining the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Russia's three major news agencies, the Itar-Tass news agency, the Russian information agency and the Interfax news agency on Monday reported the news on the opening of the CPC congress and the main content of the report delivered by Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

The NTV channel and Russian Television, the two largest television stations in Russia, called the 17th CPC National Congress "historical." The NTV channel said the congress will help China set development guidelines for the future, and that scientific development and a harmonious society are basic requirements to build socialism with Chinese characteristics.

In addition, Russian mainstream media, including the Russian Newspaper, the Parliamentary Newspaper, Commersant and Vremya Novostei on Tuesday also gave a detailed report of Hu's speech with pictures and text.

The Times, The Guardian and The Financial Times in Britain on the same day dedicated a lot of space to the content of the report delivered by Hu to the 17th CPC National Congress.

The Guardian said in an article entitled "Growth is not our only goal, Hu tells Chinese" that Hu used the 135-minute speech to amplify his theory of a "scientific outlook on development."

It represents a change of focus from quantity to quality in national governance. Instead of merely aiming for high growth, it emphasizes sustainability and social harmony, the newspaper commented.

Latvia's Chas (Hour) daily said in an article on Tuesday that China is playing a more and more important role in the patterns of world politics and economy. The 17th CPC National Congress will draw up a development strategy for the new CPC leadership and China for the next few years and has attracted much attention all over the world.

The Biznesi i Baltiya (Business and Baltic) of Latvia said that the concepts such as "Scientific Outlook on Development" and "building a harmonious society" in Hu's report are basic requirements for developing socialism with Chinese characteristics.

On its website, the People's Right of Mongolia on Tuesday highly praised the report delivered by Hu, noting that Hu used "democracy" many times in his report and stressed that China will develop socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics.

In Australia, The Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday ran a front-page story on Hu's report, saying that the core of the report is to realize sustainable development and social equality.

Portugal's major newspapers including Journal de Noticial, Correio da Manha and Publico on Tuesday all gave much space to Hu's report, and Portugal's Lusa news agency also expounded on Hu's report on the party's internal reform, economic development and the relations across the Taiwan Straits.

Chile's biggest newspaper El Mercurio ran a prominent story on the international page Tuesday, reporting the convening of the 17th National Congress and saying Hu's report fully demonstrated the determination of the CPC in narrowing the gap between the rich and poor and in building a harmonious society.

El Universal, El Nacional and Ultimas Noticias, the mainstream newspapers in Venezuela, carried articles on the opening of the Congress. El Universal and El Nacional said CPC General-Secretary Hu emphasized the deepening reform on income distribution system to ensure the Chinese people could get more benefit from the achievement of the country's economic development.

Asharqalawsat of Saudi Arabia praised the Congress' report on the Scientific Outlook on Development, saying the report showed that China will take more reform measures and economic policies to maintain the momentum of China's stable and fast development.

During the meeting between Amre Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, and Wu Sike, Chinese ambassador to Egypt and the Arab League, Moussa said the ongoing Congress was held at a crucial juncture of China's reform and development and caught worldwide attention.

He added that the Arab League attaches great importance to developing relations with China and is willing to further enhance its consultation and cooperation with China on major international and regional issues.

In a interview with Xinhua on Tuesday, Senegal's State Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheikh Tidiane Gadio said the Congress not only mapped out blueprint for China's future development, but also had far-reaching significance for the development of Africa. He added that China's past development experience is valuable for African countries to learn and its future reform and progress will also provide a new mode for African countries to follow.

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering told Xinhua recently that the congress is "an important event in China for the country and for the world." He added the European Parliament was glad to witness the developments of China and other countries.

Wang Zhengxu, senior researcher at the China Policy Institute of Nottingham University, England, said the report of the Congress, which took the Scientific Outlook on Development as the administrative concept, was delivered at the right time.

Fladmir Pordyakov, vice-president of Far East Institute of The Academy of Sciences of Russia, suggested that China should first heed the necessity of resource-protection, energy-saving and environment-friendly development as well as society-oriented and people-oriented development.

Pakistan Muslim League Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said it was due to the CPC that there has been an historic transformation in the lives of the Chinese people. He added that the 17th National Congress will be a landmark event in the development of China's future as a peaceful and prosperous society, which is building a better tomorrow for its people and for Asia as a whole.

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2007)