Hu calls for more role of overseas Chinese

BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao said Friday overseas Chinese can contribute more to the country’s modernization and reunification.
It is important to pool the wisdom of overseas Chinese and their relatives in this regard, Hu said while joining a panel discussion of political advisors from China Zhi Gong Party and the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. The advisors, or members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), are in Beijing to attend the top advisory body’s annual session.
Overseas Chinese can help publicize Chinese culture, and enhance the understanding and bolster friendship between the Chinese and people of other countries, the president said. On the other hand, governments at various levels should make sincere efforts to safeguard the interests of overseas Chinese and those having returned from abroad, Hu said.
Recent years saw a soaring number of overseas Chinese with the country’s rapid development. Statistics from the Foreign Ministry show that by last August, about 675,000 Chinese worked overseas, and more than 10,000 Chinese enterprises had set up businesses in foreign countries.
Jia Qinglin, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, joined the panel discussion. Meanwhile, Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday stressed stability and social harmony in the Tibet Autonomous Region, joining a panel discussion with lawmakers at the ongoing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the top legislature.
“The stability in Tibet concerns the stability of the country, and the safety in Tibet concerns the safety of the country,” Hu told the Tibet delegation to the NPC. He urged the Tibetan lawmakers to ensure the well being of Tibetans, improve their lives, improve work related to religions and ethnic groups, and maintain social harmony and stability in the region.
Lawmakers in Tibet should carry out the Scientific Outlook on Development and promote the sound and rapid economic development, Hu said. Senior Chinese leaders including top legislator Wu Bangguo, Premier Wen Jiabao, and Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang also joined panel discussions on Thursday.
While joining a discussion in the Guizhou delegation, Wu Bangguo called on the people in Guizhou Province to promptly recover from the recent snow and ice storms and minimize losses. The government of the underdeveloped southwestern province needs to put development on top of the agenda, Wu said.
Premier Wen Jiabao praised the people in Gansu Province for water conservation efforts when joining the Gansu delegation in a panel discussion, and urged the province to act as an example in the regard. “Gansu people have made great achievements,” Wen said. Water totaling hundreds of millions cubic meters is sent from the Heihe River in Gansu to Juyanhai in Inner Mongolia every year, which creates a lake in the Juyanhai Oasis surrounded by deserts, the premier said.
After hearing from a deputy from Dingxi, Gansu, Wen said, “I am concerned with the potato business in Dingxi. Potato there, big in size and having few eyes, is fit for French fries. You must make good use of it.” Joining deliberations with the lawmakers from the delegation of eastern Zhejiang Province, Li Changchun underlined the importance of training high-caliber personnel to greatly boost the country’s cultural development.
“We should create favorable environment in the society to encourage their enthusiasm, willingness and creativity to produce more cultural works of excellence,” Li said. Xi Jinping, who joined the delegation of northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, urged the local government to give prominence to building resource-conserving, environment-friendly society in the process of industrialization and modernization.—Xinhua