Ruling party's five kinds of governance capabilities:

1. Capability to control the socialist market economy

2. Capacity to develop socialist democratic politics

3. Ability to build advanced socialist culture

4. Capacity to construct a harmonious socialist society, and

5. Capability to cope with the world situation and handle international relations

On the morning of December 22, Hu Jintao, despite his fatigue from busy inspection tour of Guangdong Province for days on end, paid a special visit to a community service center on Datang Street in an old city district of Guangzhou, capital of the province, to call on Party members and cadres at the grassroots level.

It's already at yearend, but it remained as warm as in the season of spring. In a simple classroom on the second floor of the center, some young Party members were attending a Party lecture and seriously answering questions in an examination paper on basic knowledge about the Party. As they saw the arrival of the General Secretary, they joyfully applauded him.

Seeing them studying with avidity, Hu Jintao asked, "Have you all studied the 'Decision' of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th Party Central Committee? Those who have studied it please raise your hands." The students all raised their hands one after another. Then the General Secretary put a Decision-related question to the students, one of them stood up to give an answer to the General Secretary's question.

Hu earnestly listened to her speech and walked to the middle of the classroom, asking a Party member from a grassroots unit, "What kind of capabilities a ruling party must have in order to comprehensively build a relatively affluent society and fulfill its own historical mission?"

Hu said in explicit terms: Development is an absolute principle. As a ruling party, our Party should firstly have the ability to control the socialist market economy and persist in taking economic construction as the central task.

Secondly, to build socialist political civilization, it should have the capability to develop socialist democratic politics. From the first day of its founding, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has stressed science and democracy. Of course, the democracy we mention here means socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.

Thirdly, it should have the ability to build advanced socialist culture. It should uphold the guiding position of Marxism, it should be good at combining the fine traditional culture of the Chinese nation with the achievements of advanced cultures of various countries around the world.

Fourthly, as you all know, stability and unity are very important. We will accomplish nothing without social stability. To avoid this, we should have the capability to construct a harmonious socialist society. And

Fifth, ours is a big country with a population of 1.3 billion, we should play an active role in the international arena, we should also have the capacity to cope with the world situation and handle international relations..

Hu stressed in terse and forceful language: Those are the five kinds of abilities for strengthening Party building as prescribed in the "Decision" of the Fourth Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee. To enhance these capabilities, we must comprehensively step up the Party's ideological, organizational, working style and systemic construction. As a Party member or a Party cadre, he or she should always cherish lofty ideals, firmly bear in mind historical responsibility, enhance his or her own ability and establish a good image.

As soon as Hu finished speaking, the attendants unrestrainedly burst into warm applause. The hearty rounds of applause represent their response with true feelings to the lecture given personally by the General Secretary and their firm reply to the earnest expectations of the General Secretary.

Published on the front page of People's Daily (Overseas Edition) December 24, 2004, this article was translated by People's Daily Online