Chinese President Jiang Zemin Wednesday urged Beijingers to take advantage of new opportunities in the new century and work hard to build the capital city into a modernized one. Jiang made the remarks during his inspection to Yanshan Petrochemical Corporation on Wednesday.
Jiang, also general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in Beijing Wednesday.
Jiang visited Yanshan Petrochemical Corporation attached to China National Petrochemical Corp and Hancunhe Village in Fangshan District during the tour.
He expected Beijing to become both a world-renowned cultural city and a modernized international metropolis with Chinese characteristics.
He said that Beijing is the capital city and an important showcase for exhibiting the achievements of China's reform and opening-up drive. With particular priority given to human resources, information, science and technology, Beijing has the right conditions to speed up its development.
Jiang said that facing the new challenges brought up by its entry into the WTO, China should focus on reform and development in an effort to increase its international competitiveness.
He said China is to speed up the development of electronics, information, software technology, the bio-pharmaceutical industry, environmental engineering and other high-tech fields.
Jiang also called for the introduction of high technology to upgrade a number of large-sized enterprises.
He said this year would be a very important year in the history of the party and the government, saying the upcoming 16th national congress of the party would push ahead with China's socialist modernization drive.
Jiang urged governments at various levels to take care of laid-off workers and the disadvantaged in both urban and rural areas with the coming of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the most important festival for Chinese people.
(People's Daily January 31, 2002)
