Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the forum which was held on Sept. 17 in Zhongnanhai, headquarters of the CPC Central Committee. Senior Communist Party officials Li Ruihuan, Hu Jintao, Zeng Qinghong and Wang Zhaoguo attended the forum.

At the beginning of the forum, Jiang briefed those in attendance on the report's drafting process and its main content. He asked all non-Communist figures present to freely express their opinions on the draft report.

Speakers at the forum included He Luli, chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang; Ding Shisun, chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League; Cheng Siwei, chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association; Xu Jialu, chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy; and Jiang Zhenghua, chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party.

Those speaking at the forum also included Luo Haocai, chairman of the Central Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party; Wu Jieping, chairman of the Central Committee of the Jiu San Society; Zhang Kehui, chairman of the Central Committee of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League; Jing Shuping, chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce; and Qian Yi, a figure without party affiliation.

The speakers agreed that the report is guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and sticks to the ideological line of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, noting that the report theoretically and practically sums up work since the 15th CPC National Congress and, in particular, experience that has been accumulated over the past 13 years since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Central Committee.

The report sets the goal of building a well-to-do society in China and outlines the country's development in the first 20 years of the 21st century, the speakers commented.

They said it is a "comprehensive, profound and inspiring" report which reflects the wishes of all Communist Party members, officers and men of the army and people of all ethnic groups throughout the country. The report embodies the important theory of "Three Represents" and is an outline for what Chinese people should do in the beginning of the new century, they said.

The non-Communist figures also voiced their views and suggestions on reform, opening-up and modernization drive, ethics in the political field, adherence to the "one country, two systems" principle, and achieving complete reunification of the motherland.

Jiang Zemin thanked the non-Communist participants for airing their views which he said would contribute to the revision of the report. Jiang urged the drafting group to examine the views and adopt them when revising the report.

Jiang noted that the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation is a fundamental political system in China, which bears Chinese characteristics and is an important form of the country's socialist democratic politics.

Facing arduous tasks of reform, opening-up and modernization, the Communist Part will strengthen cooperation with non-Communist parties to pool the wisdom and strength of all social sectors, Jiang said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2002)