CHINA: Premier Wen Jiabao kicked off China's national parliamentary meeting yesterday with a wide-ranging speech which promised to ease the plight of hundreds of millions of poor farmers, rein in rampant economic growth and beef up the army.
Mr Wen, chairing his first congress since his installation as premier of the world's most populous nation last year, gave a 90-minute address on a stage festooned with red flags and other traditional communist emblems.
A key element of his speech, which is similar in terms of importance in China to the US's State of the Union address, was his pledge to make the rural poor a "top priority".
Poor farmers make up around 800 million of China's 1.3 billion people but they have not had much of a share in the new wealth enjoyed by city folk.
"Rural incomes have grown too slowly, and development in different regions of the country is not balanced," he said.
"The income gap is too wide among some members of society," Mr Wen said.
The annual congress generally rubber-stamps measures specially prepared by the ruling Communist party, but it is also a forum for special interest groups who come to the capital to lobby their causes and security was tight around the Great Hall of the People.
Civic guards wearing red armbands patrolled the streets and police cars were much in evidence on the Beijing streets outside the venue.
Mr Wen and president Hu Jintao, who is also the head of the Communist party, have made no secret of their desire to focus on popular issues. Mr Wen said he was keen to offset dangers of an overheating economy and said he expected growth of around 7 per cent during 2004.
China's economy has been growing at a remarkable rate for the past decade or so - it grew an astonishing 9 per cent last year despite the impact of the SARS virus.
But the distribution of economic growth has been uneven, with much concentrated on the cities of Beijing and Shanghai and the prosperous cities on the coast.
The fact that average farm income is less than a euro a day has sparked fears of social unrest, which could undermine the power of the Communist party.
Deputies are expected to formally amend the constitution to include a measure that protects private property for the first time.
The parliament is also expected to add a clause to the constitution respecting human rights.
Lawmakers also will review measures to stamp out corruption, as well as introduce into law the "three represents" policy of former leader Jiang Zemin, which foresees some role for entrepreneurs in society.
Mr Wen pledged to beef up the army and signalled no major compromise on Taiwan, the island that China says is part of its territory and threatened to retake by force if Taiwan takes any formal moves toward independence.