A harmonious society in China is a society that always puts people first. This is the aim and focus of all that China has been doing in essence in her modernization drive over the past 60 years ever since the founding of New China in 1949.

H.E. Mr. Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, has called in recent years for the whole Chinese people to make double efforts in "building a harmonious society" in China, a goal which has been placed on top of the agenda of the Chinese government.

The call has immediately embraced by the whole Chinese people with 56 ethnic groups living in this vast motherland for thousand years and striving for prosperity and happy life. Since China started its reform and opening-up in 1978, profound achievements have be obtained in economic and social development. Globalization and information technology have been spreading fast in the world, bringing unprecedented new opportunities and challenges. Society in China is also experiencing profound changes. People have more time to make themselves a prettier village, a better city, a cleaner river or a greener hill.

A harmonious society in China means a society with, for instance, a stable political environment, a sustainable prosperity, people living in peace with fair opportunities for work or study, and a society of better welfare.

Many programs are hence introduced with more resources from both public and private sectors in a bid to help communities improve infrastructure, enhance education and job training, strengthen medical care and clean streets and waters. The gap between rich and poor draws great attention and efforts are being made to narrow it sooner and faster. The slogan is to provide people with opportunities full and fair to benefit on the development of national economy.  

It is a timely strengthening of the efforts. Along with more than three decades of reform and opening-up, people's living conditions have been improved and the population of the poor has decreased by a large number. Job opportunities have increased and many structural problems of the old system are being solved. The whole society featuring rules of law and respect of human rights is being enhanced. However, problems remain and new challenges are emerging, such as gaps in income, increasingly serious state of underdevelopment facing rural areas in farmers and agriculture, the drainage of farmland, heavy pressure in the workplace or an incomplete social security system. The building of a harmonious society aims to co-ordinate and streamline the relationships between different social sectors, to ensure that the economy develop in a sustained and stable way.

In order to build a harmonious society, the Chinese government and its people are enhancing efforts in maintaining world peace and promoting common development by expanding friendly relations and mutual beneficial cooperation. More attention is to be paid to playing active role in deepening cooperation between China and other countries around the world, including those in the Gulf region. We have advocated with joint efforts of peoples in the world to build the world into a harmonious one of last peace and common prosperity.

Domestically, China will continue to push forward our reform and opening up, and to expand our participation in global economy by integrating our development with the rest of the w