promoting social harmony and building an overall well-off society, ahead of the Party's once-every-five-year national congress later this year.

"Under the current international backdrop, China faces unprecedented opportunities and challenges, which require us to have a clear view of today's China and the world, meet new demands of development and new expectations of the public, draw experience and make scientific guidelines," said Hu.

The remarks were made when Hu addressed a senior course for ministerial officials and provincial heads at the CPC Central Committee's Party School.

He told the officials that all Party members should "remain sober" and always keep in mind the real situation of the country.

Top legislator Wu Bangguo, Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior leaders including Jia Qinglin, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan attended the meeting presided over by Vice President Zeng Qinghong, who is also president of the CPC Central Committee's Party School.

Hu stressed that it is necessary to scientifically analyze the opportunities and challenges that China faces because of economic globalization, and that a scientific concept of development should be implemented in the process of industrialization, urbanization, market orientation and internationalization.

Since the 16th CPC National Congress in 2002, the CPC Central Committee proposed the scientific concept of development, which focuses on people-oriented, overall, coordinated and sustainable development, said Hu.

Hu emphasized the building of an energy-efficient, environment-friendly society and improvement of the basic economic system centered on public ownership while "unswervingly" encouraging and maintaining non-public forms.

"To develop socialist democracy is our long-term goal," he said. "The government should expand political participation channels for ordinary people, enrich forms of participation and promote a scientific and democratic decision-making process."

Hu said the government should focus on problems of immediate interests to the public, such as education, employment, social security and health care.

The president urged officials to improve their ideology, leadership skills and work to better the public's standard of living, oppose formalism, bureaucracy and extravagance, and fight a long-term, tough war against corruption.

"All Party members should unite to strive for the success of the 17th CPC National Congress and the building of an overall well-off society," the president urged at the end of the speech.

Reform the cornerstone

Different voices on the direction and effects of reform have surfaced in recent years in China, which is almost three decades into the reform process. Li Junru, Vice President of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee told Oriental Outlook magazine that the different opinions concentrate on whether reform and opening up should stick to the goal of building a socialist market economy and whether the basic principles of scientific socialism should be adhered to. Li said Hu's speech is timely in answering these questions and reconfirming the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

"The outstanding feature of the era is the coexistence of golden development opportunities and bitter conflicts," said Lin Zhe, a professor of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. According to Oriental Outlook, Lin believes that the CPC Central Committee will spend more efforts in solving social conflicts.

Liu Chun, a scholar with the Party School, also told Oriental Outlook that "in the past when we talked about development, everyone knew that meant an increase in gross domestic product. In this new era, the concept of development has been greatly expanded to include progress directly related to people's life, political as well as spiritual progress."