Improvement in livelihood a key task

President Hu Jintao highlighted the importance of improving people's livelihood during his keynote speech on Thursday.

People's rights to education, employment, medical services, pensions and housing should be ensured, and people's incomes should increase with the country's economic growth, Hu said.

"We should bring as much benefit as possible to the people, resolve as many difficulties as possible for them, and solve the most pressing and real problems of the greatest concern to them," Hu said.

In the speech, Hu introduced a series of measures including promoting fairness in education, increasing job opportunities, strengthening vocational skills training, providing basic social security for urban and rural regions, addressing the issue of the aging population and providing old-age services, improving the medical insurance system and building affordable housing.

People's living standards, individual incomes and social security have improved significantly in the past decade, Hu said.

To guarantee that the people share in the fruits of development, the Party must deepen reform of the income distribution system, he said.

Wang Sanyun, Party secretary of Northwest China's Gansu province, vowed that the provincial Party committee will give high priority to the improvement of local people's livelihood.

"The most important duty for us is to let the people lead a wealthy and stable life," he said on Thursday afternoon during a panel discussion of Hu's report.

The province is going to apply for more State-level projects, such as wind-power projects, to bring more economic rewards to local people, he said.

"I noticed that it's the first time that 'building a beautiful China' was referred to in General Secretary Hu Jintao's report," Wang said.

"It has set a blueprint for us to let the people live a well-off life with dignity in the future."

Yu Dan, a delegate to the 18th Party Congress and a media professor at Beijing Normal University, said what she cared about most was that fairness in education was mentioned in Hu's speech.

"I hope that students in rural areas can enjoy the same education as urban students since educational resources are not balanced," she said.

"It's good to know that the Party is going to ensure a balanced allocation of educational resources with a focus on rural, remote, poor and ethnic areas," Yu said.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn