Luo Gan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of Chinese Communist Party Central Committee delivered a speech on Friday at the opening ceremony of the 22nd Congress on the Law of the World. The following is the full text: Welcome Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Congress on the Law of the World Luo Gan Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of Chinese Communist Party Central Committee September 5th 2005 Respected President Yevdokymov, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great pleasure for me to join you here in Beijing at the opening ceremony of the 22nd Congress on the Law of the World. Let me begin by extending my sincere welcome to Chief Justices, Justices, Ministers of Justice and all the friends from the legal field coming for this great event, and my warm congratulations to the World Jurist Association.

It is the second time for China to host the Congress on the Law of the World. The 14th Congress held in Beijing in 1990 was very successful. The Beijing Declaration adopted at that Congress has had wide-ranging impacts and demonstrated the aspiration of the legal field to promote world peace and development by legal means. The current Congress's theme - the Rule of Law and Harmony of International Society - is of highly realistic significance. Just as President of the People's Republic of China Mr. Hu Jintao put it when he met with the distinguished guests to this Congress, to promote harmony of international society conforms to the common aspirations of the people of all countries of the world in pursuing peace, development and cooperation.

Multi-polarization and globalization are moving forward in complication. The pursuit of development, peace and cooperation is an irreversible historical trend. Peace and development remain the themes of the time. However, the world is not yet peaceful. The growing terrorist threats, frequent regional conflicts and local wars, the interplay of traditional and non-traditional security factors, increasingly rampant transnational crimes, all present serious challenges to which the people of all the countries must respond. Among them, people in the legal field have an important responsibility in addressing these challenges. The world needs peace, harmony and the rule of law. I believe that the rational and witty remarks at the Congress will be heard all over the world and will exert positive and far-reaching impact on promoting world peace and stability and harmonious development of international society.

It has always been the aspiration of humankind to achieve social harmony. This is also the goal of the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese Government and people. Since the adoption of reform and open-up policy, the Chinese economy has maintained sustained and rapid growth. A functioning socialist market economy has been basically established. Remarkable progress has been achieved in science and technology, education, public health and many other areas. The Chinese people are now enjoying better living standards than ever before. Now the Chinese government and people are making full efforts to build a society of moderate prosperity at all respects, beneficial to more than 1 billion people. Our goal is that by 2020 China's GDP will reach 4 trillion US dollars and per capita GDP will reach 3000 US dollars. We are taking a people-centered approach and pursuing sustainable growth and balanced development. Our objective is to achieve all-around economic, political, cultural and social progress.

China values democracy and the rule of Law. Since the reform and open-up began, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee have adopted the current Constitution and its four amendments, and more than 200 laws now in force. The State Council has adopted 650 administrative regulations in force now. The local people's congresses and their standing committees have adopted 7500 local regulations now in force. The people's congresses in ethnic autonomous regions have adopted 600 regulations on local autonomy and other separate regulations. China has established a well-functioning socialist legal framework centered on the Constitution. Now laws and regulations are in place to govern the major aspects of political, economic and social spheres. These legislations ensure that the people can exercise their rights to democratic election, decision-making, governance and supervision. The Chinese people participate in administration of governmental, social, economic and cultural affairs through various means provided by law. The public now has higher awareness of laws and the rule of law. The fundamental policy to govern state affairs on the basis of the rule of law has been implemented. The Chinese citizens have their freedoms and rights protected and safeguarded by law. China has acceded to 21 international human rights conventions. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has ratified the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Chinese Government is now considering the major issues involved in the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and is going to start the legal process for ratification once the conditions are mature.

Proceeding from China's reality, we are going to actively and steadily strengthen legislation and the supervision, promote rule-based administration and reform of judicial system, and uphold the fairness of justice, and to ensure that the rule of law can play its full role in promoting, realizing and safeguarding a harmonious society.

In the era of globalization, countries in the world have their interests intertwined, depend on each other for security and have common opportunities and common challenges. We should work together to forge a new international order with fairness and justice. We should establish a harmonious international community based on equal participation, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation for all the nations. I think the following principles should be followed in this endeavor: 1. The principle of mutual respect in political relations. On the basis of the UN Charter, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other accepted principles governing international relations, we should uphold sovereign equality,promote multilateralism and democratization of international relations, support the central role of the United Nations in international affairs and advocate the proper rights and interests of developing countries; 2. The principle of strengthening economic cooperation. We should establish a global multilateral trading system that is open, fair, just, transparent and non-discriminatory, bring about win-win achievements through learning from each other to make up deficiencies on a mutually beneficial and reciprocal basis, and promote the economic globalization driving for the trends of balanced, generally preferential and win-win development. 3. Cultural diversity. We should encourage tolerance, respect the diversity of civilizations, religions and values, respect the autonomous right of different countries to choose their own social system and model for their development, promote the friendly relations of different civilizations and learn from each for common development and prosperity on the basis of seeking common grounds by reserving and respecting the differences of each other; 4. The principle of mutual confidence in security matters. We should develop a new security concept based on mutual benefits, mutual trust, equality and collaboration, improve mutual confidence through dialogue, resolve conflicts through negotiation and maintain stability through cooperation. We should work together to respond to traditional and nontraditional security threats to maintain the world peace.

The development of China is a peaceful one. China cannot develop itself in isolation of the world. China's development is always beneficial to the world. The Chinese nation is a nation that loves peace and values harmony. Developing friendly and harmonious relations earnestly and in good faith with other countries is a Chinese tradition. China has always been pursuing an independent and peaceful foreign policy. China advocates peace and development through cooperation. China has been, is and will always be a steadfast force for safeguarding world peace. A stable, open and prosperous China will make greater contributions to world peace and development. Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today we have with us judges, prosecutors, senior officials from the Ministry of Justice, lawyers and scholars from around the world. You play very important roles in the rule of law in your respective countries. I believe that your discussions at this Congress will help to reach many consensuses and enrich the concept of rule of law. What you do here is going to make important contributions to world peace and human progress.

I hope the Chinese Organization Committee of the 22nd Congress on the Law of the World will take this opportunity to facilitate discussions and exchanges between Chinese jurists and their international counterparts. China should learn from the successful experience of our international colleagues in legal and judicial reforms to inform its efforts at establishing the rule of law and building a harmonious society, and to make its contributions to the establishment of a harmonious international community.

I wish this Congress a full success and good health and happiness to you all!