--We have vigorously promoted socialist democratic politics, and provided better guarantees of people's right to be masters of their own affairs. Reform of the political system has been deepening continuously. Various systems have been strengthened under the leadership of the CPC, including the People's Congress system, multi-party cooperation, the political consultative system, autonomy of ethnic regions, and the system of villager self-government.

The socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics has taken shape and the rule of law has been put into practice. The number of citizens' participation in politics has been broadened, and human rights are increasingly protected. Relations between political parties, ethnic groups, religions, social classes and the Chinese people at home and abroad have become more harmonious.

--We have actively developed socialist cultural affairs and satisfied the growing spiritual needs of the people. The cultural industry is booming and national soft power has been enhanced.

--Social welfare has been enhanced significantly, and society has become more harmonious. The quality of education has improved, and the size of employment has been growing. The social security system and public health system have been expanded to cover more and more urban and rural residents.

--Great achievements have been made in building national defense and the military.

--China has successfully implemented the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, and has taken big strides forward in uniting the country. Hong Kong and Macao have remained prosperous after returning to China. Economic, cultural and personnel exchanges between China's mainland and Taiwan have become more frequent. Communication between the political parties on both sides of the Taiwan Straits has been launched successfully. The two sides took significant steps toward two-way "three links."

--We firmly adhere to an independent foreign policy of peace and have scored significant diplomatic achievements. We strictly follow a foreign policy aimed at upholding world peace and co-development. We actively participate in multilateral affairs, and shoulder compatible international obligations.

--There has been pronounced improvement in the leadership and governing ability of the CPC. The Party has become more resistant to corruption and risks.

Hu expressed his gratitude not only to people from all walks of life on China's mainland, to residents in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, but also to overseas Chinese and foreign friends who have supported China's socialist modernization construction.

Hu summarized the valuable experiences accumulated in the past three decades, which were previously illustrated at the 17th National Congress of the CPC. "We need to learn all advantages of political civilization of the human society, but will never copy the mode of the Western political institutions. China has no chance to develop itself without the world while the world needs China to go ahead with development; We must improve efficiency while maintaining social equity; We must keep independence while participating in economic globalization, comprehensively arranging both domestic and international tasks, and making contributions to the lofty cause of peace and development around the world; We must promote reform and development while maintaining stability, because without stability, we can achieve nothing," Hu said.

Hu said, "In the past three decades, the Party has innovatively explored and answered the following important theoretical and practical questions: what is Marxism, how to treat Marxism, what is socialism, how to build socialism, what kind of party we should build, and how to build such a party. What kind of development we want, and how to develop."

Hu reaffirmed China's goal in pressing ahead with reform and opening up. He said, "We have no reason to be carried away by our past achievements and thus halt our progress. China is still in the primary stage of a socialist society. Backward social production still lags behind the growing material and cultural needs of the people. China's productivity is still not high, and innovation is low. Some economic structural problems persist, and the resource-intensive growth model still needs to be changed. Some system barriers still hinder development. A significant number of people still live in poverty. The development of rural areas still lags behind, and reducing regional disparity remains an arduous task. The performance of the Party and the government is not perfect, and there are things that the people are not satisfied with. We still face difficulties and challenges. There are a lot of things to be reformed and developed. Development is the top priority of the ruling Party. The people should be able to enjoy a larger share of the fruits of development."

"We should not sway back and forth, relax our efforts or get sidetracked. We must firmly push forward the reform and opening-up process and adhere to socialism with Chinese characteristics. In that way, we will achieve our grand blueprint and ambitious objectives in building a reasonably affluent, civilized and harmonious modern society," Hu emphasized.

(Sources: President Hu Jintao's keynote speech at the meeting celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee and articles published by Xinhua News Agency)