VI. Improving the Government's Administrative Capacity and Style of Work

Last year we took some steps toward implementing the Administrative Permission Law, making policy decisions more scientific and democratic, promoting law-based administration and improving social management. We are clearly aware that there is much to be desired in the government's self-improvement efforts. We will earnestly implement the guidelines set forth at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixteenth Central Committee and accelerate government self-reform and self-improvement.

1. Deepening the restructuring of government bodies. To make government bodies more streamlined, unified and efficient and meet the requirements for better coordination in making and implementing policies and doing oversight work, we will improve the structure of government bodies, clarify their functions and bring their staff sizes under strict control. This should put the responsibilities, organizational structure and size of the government on a scientific, standard and legal basis. We must solidify the achievements that have been made in government restructuring and solve new problems promptly. We will speed up restructuring of town and township governments, focusing on rationally defining their functions, simplifying their structure and reducing the number of their employees. We will energetically yet prudently press ahead with the reform of institutions on a type-by-type basis and standardize the way they are granted powers in accordance with the law.

2. Speeding up the transformation of government functions. We will further separate the functions of government from those of enterprises, state assets management authorities and institutions. We will resolutely transfer responsibility for activities that the government should not be engaged in to enterprises, the market or civic organizations, and maximize the role of civic organizations, industrial associations, chambers of commerce and intermediary agencies. The work that the government should do, it should do well. While effectively regulating the economy and overseeing the market, we need to pay closer attention to social management and public services by shifting more financial, material and other public resources to these areas and having leaders devote more energy to developing social undertakings and building a harmonious society. We will conscientiously implement the Administrative Permission Law. We will continue to deepen the reform of the system of administrative approval, further reduce the number of items requiring administrative approval, and standardize approval procedures.

3. Improving the methods and means of economic management. We must thoroughly change the traditional ideas and practices of the planned economy. In pursuing economic development, governments at all levels must concentrate on serving market players and creating an environment favorable to their development. They must not make decisions or work to attract business and investment on behalf of enterprises, or directly intervene in their production and business operations. Leading cadres at all levels must enhance their awareness of the importance of guiding and their ability to guide economic work in accordance with the principles of the market economy, to act in accordance with international practices and to regulate economic activities mainly through economic and legal means.

4. Working hard to build a service-oriented government. We need to make innovations in our style of government and focus management on providing services to lower-level governments, enterprises and the general public. Administrative resources need to be better integrated and administrative costs lowered to improve administrative efficiency and the level of services. Government departments should not only strive to do their own work well but also improve coordination and cooperation with each other. We will improve the systems of public notifications and public hearings to expand participation of the general public in the management of public affairs. We will energetically make government affairs more open and strengthen efforts to develop e-government. We will increase the transparency of government work and boost popular confidence in government.

5. Improving our ability to perform our duties in accordance with the law. We will conscientiously implement the basic policy of governing the country by law and the Program on Performing Official Duties in Accordance with the Law promulgated by the State Council, and speed up work to build a law-based government. Governments at all levels and their departments must strictly abide by the Constitution and laws, exercise their powers and perform their duties within their stipulated scope of authority and on the basis of the procedures defined by laws, and accept oversight. We will implement a responsibility system for enforcement of administrative laws and put a stop to overlapping jurisdiction and unfair practices in law enforcement. We will strengthen the administrative accountability system and investigate and prosecute administrative improprieties in accordance with the law. All departments must strengthen their internal management, actively cooperate with and support auditing offices and supervision departments in the performance of their duties in accordance with the law, and conscientiously correct any problems discovered in the process. The scope of public and media oversight of the government and its departments will be expanded.

6. Making great efforts to improve the government's style of work. We will adhere to the principle of "people first and government for the people." We will maintain a scientific outlook on development and a correct attitude toward our performance, and be realistic and pragmatic in our work. We must strictly enforce the Statistics Law. We will work to establish a scientific system for evaluating government performance and a system for comprehensively evaluating economic and social development. We must resolutely oppose formalism and the practices of falsifying reports. We cannot build any more "image projects" or "vanity projects" that waste both money and manpower. We will reduce the number of meetings and documents and improve their style. We should strictly standardize and regulate all kinds of inspections, evaluations and all other activities to determine compliance with standards. We should conscientiously follow the guiding principles of the State Council's Third Conference on Clean Government and intensify our efforts to build a clean government and combat corruption, focusing on reforms and institutional development. In conjunction with the Education Campaign to Preserve the Advanced Nature of Party Members, we will strengthen the education, management and oversight of public servants and work hard to turn them into a contingent of public servants with whom the people are satisfied.

Fellow Deputies,

Strengthening national defense and developing the army constitute a task of strategic importance to our modernization drive and an important guarantee for safeguarding national security and reunification. Guided by Mao Zedong's military thinking, Deng Xiaoping's thinking on army building in the new period and Jiang Zemin's thinking on national defense and army building, we will improve army building in all its aspects. We will enable our army to fulfill its historic mission for the new century and new period, focusing on the two historic objectives of ensuring that the army is capable of winning any war it fights and that it never degenerates. We will always assign paramount importance to the ideological and political development of our army to ensure that the orientation of its development is correct. Taking the military strategy for the new period as our overall guide, we will actively promote the revolution in military affairs with Chinese characteristics and enhance the army's ability to use IT in fighting integrated warfare in defense of the country. We will intensify scientific and technological training for soldiers to turn out a new type of highly competent military personnel. We will greatly strengthen defense-related research and modernize our weaponry and equipment. We will continue to carry out the reform and development of our defense-related science and technology industries. We will complete the task of reducing the size of the army by 200,000 troops. We will improve the army's logistics to strengthen its support capability. The army must be run strictly in accordance with the law and made more standardized. We will make the People's Armed Police more proficient and more capable of responding to emergencies. We will raise the people's awareness of the importance of national defense, improve the national defense mobilization system and strengthen the army reserves. Governments at all levels must vigorously support the development of national defense and army building and strengthen the solidarity between the army and the government and between the army and civilians.

Fellow Deputies,

We will unswervingly implement the principle of "one country, two systems," under which Hong Kong people administer Hong Kong and Macao people administer Macao with a high degree of autonomy, and we will act in strict accordance with the basic laws of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. We will give our full support to the chief executives and governments of the two regions in administering the regions in accordance with the law and in enhancing their governance capability. We will increase the mainland's exchanges and cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao in the fields of the economy, trade, education, science and technology, culture and health, and promote the long-term prosperity, stability and development of the regions.

We will adhere to the basic principles of "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" and the eight-point proposal for the current stage of efforts to develop cross-Straits relations and promote peaceful reunification of the motherland, safeguard peace in the Taiwan Straits and facilitate steady development of cross-Straits relations. We encourage and promote visits by individuals and economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation across the Straits. We encourage and facilitate establishment of the "three direct links" between the two sides. We will continue working to restore consultation and negotiation between the two sides under the one-China principle and on the basis of equality. We will make the greatest possible effort to do anything conducive to the development of cross-Straits relations and the country's peaceful reunification. The Anti-Secession Law (draft), which will be submitted for your examination and approval, provides a full expression of our unvarying position, which is that we are working most sincerely and energetically to bring about peaceful reunification. This law represents the common will and strong determination of the entire Chinese people to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and never allow secessionist forces working for "Taiwan independence" to separate Taiwan from China under any name or by any means. We will work together with our Taiwan compatriots to accomplish the great undertaking of reunifying the motherland.