Jiang's remarks were made at the graduation ceremony of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Top Party leaders, including Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Hu Jintao, Wei Jianxing and Li Lanqing, also attended the ceremony.

Jiang, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said that in this new era, all CPC members from all walks of life should devote themselves to the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics and at the same time work to contribute to world peace and development.

According to Jiang, in this new era the Party needs to insist on the "Three Represents" theory - to adjust its leadership to represent the demands of advanced productive forces, to represent the direction of the development of advanced Chinese culture and to represent the ultimate interests of the Chinese people.

Party theories will be developed in line with the times and Party members should learn to test new ideas through practice so as to make greater progress, said Jiang.

He asked the Party to put a high priority on the development of productive forces, saying it is the essence of socialism and the common hope of the people.

As for the goals for the country in the new century, Jiang urged the Party, as well as the people around the country, to take the opportunity to further push forward economic reforms, open the country to the outside world and ensure national unity and social stability.

China's economic reforms should put more emphasis on the efficiency, with the aim of achieving the long-term intensive economic development on the basis of the advancement of science and technology, said Jiang.

China will continue the mixed ownership system as a basic economic policy for the time being and further legalize and standardize political democracy, said Jiang.

Promoting socialist democratic politics is an important objective of China's socialist modernization drive, said Jiang. But he also stressed that what China needs is socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics and that China will never copy Western political systems.

(China Daily June 1, 2002)