I recently travelled from Jiangsu to Zhejiang Province and from there to Shanghai. On this trip I found things were going very well. People were in excellent spirits. There were many new houses, there were plenty of consumer goods on the market, and cadres were brimming with confidence. Prospects are obviously bright for our modernization programme. There should be more detailed overall planning for quadrupling gross annual industrial and agricultural output by the end of the century. Every province and autonomous region and every municipality directly under the Central Government should have a specific plan, so that it knows exactly what to do. This includes backward regions such as Ningxia [Hui Autonomous Region], Qinghai [Province] and Gansu [Province]. We must help the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities solve their most pressing problems and thus create the conditions that will enable them to fulfil their plans.

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According to the latest statistics, gross industrial and agricultural output in 1982 increased by 8 per cent, greatly exceeding the originally planned figure of 4 per cent -- something that had not happened in the previous two years. This raises a question: What will come of achieving a much higher growth rate than projected in the annual plan? We must investigate and study this question right away and analyse it correctly. However, this doesn't mean we should alter our Sixth Five-year Plan. Long-term plans should be more flexible, while annual plans should be more specific, though of course they should have some flexibility too. We should pay attention to improving economic efficiency, instead of just going after increases in the value and quantity of output. Experience shows that whenever our plans have been too ambitious, we have overreached ourselves. This has been a bitter lesson for us. We are already aware of this mistake and will continue to guard against it in future. But now we face the opposite situation. In short, the principles for drawing up plans are: they should be specific, flexible and achievable if we work hard.

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Plant trees everywhere and make our country green in the interest of future generations.

(Message for a conference held by the People's Liberation Army to review the experience in afforestation and to honour outstanding units and individuals for their work.)

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Both China and India are developing countries, but they are not without importance in world affairs. They have the biggest populations: added together, they amount to 1.7 billion, more than one third of the world's people. As the two countries are neighbours, we cannot afford not to understand each other and promote the friendship between us. In the mid-1950s we cooperated very closely. The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, jointly initiated by Premier Zhou Enlai and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, have been recognized the world over.

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The objective for the two decades from 1981 and the end of this century has been set: on the basis of steadily improved economic performance, we shall try to quadruple the gross annual value of industrial and agricultural output by the year 2000. Can it be done? The Twelfth National Congress of the Party says it can. And I also believe it can. But whether it really will be done depends on the success of our work in the years to come.

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September 24, 1982

Our basic position on the question of Hong Kong is clear. There are three major issues involved. One is sovereignty. Another is the way in which China will administer Hong Kong so as to maintain its prosperity after 1997. And still another is the need for the Chinese and British governments to hold appropriate discussions on ways to avoid major disturbances in Hong Kong during the 15 years between now and 1997.

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We have just held the Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Thanks to that congress, the political situation in our country will be more stable than ever before. This will make it possible for us to concentrate all the more on economic development.

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The Central Advisory Commission is something new. Established in light of the circumstances of the Communist Party of China, it is an organizational form that will enable new cadres to succeed the old ones in the central leading organs of the Party. The purpose of establishing this Commission is to lower the average age of members of the Central Committee and at the same time to make it possible for some elderly comrades who have retired from the forefront of affairs to continue to play a certain role.

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Comrades,

I now declare open the Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

There are three main items on our agenda: (1) to consider the report of the Eleventh Central Committee and decide on the Party's programme for opening up new prospects in all fields of socialist modernization; (2) to consider and adopt the new Constitution of the Communist Party of China; and (3) in accordance with the provisions of the new Party Constitution, to elect a new Central Committee, a Central Advisory Commission and a Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

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China is aware of its responsibilities as a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations. Everyone can trust China in two respects. First, China adheres to principles. Second, China means what it says. We do not play political games, nor do we engage in the play of words. I personally love to play bridge, but China does not like to play political cards. This is not only the case today, but was also the case during the period since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 when Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai were leading the country. This is why so many friends around the world trust us. We understand the circumstances in many countries, particularly Third World countries. China's foreign policy is consistent and can be summed up in three sentences. First, we oppose hegemonism. Second, we safeguard world peace. Third, we are eager to strengthen unity and cooperation, or what might be termed 'union and cooperation', with other Third World countries. The reason I lay special emphasis on the Third World is that opposition to hegemonism and safeguarding world peace are of special significance to the Third World. Who are the victims of hegemonism? Is it the United States or the Soviet Union? No, it is the United States and the Soviet Union that practise hegemonism, so they are not the victims. Neither are developed countries such as Japan, Canada, and countries in Europe and Oceania the victims. Eastern Europe suffers a little. If world peace is disrupted, who will be the first to become victims? Actually, there has been no peace since the end of World War II. Although no major wars have been fought, minor ones have continued. Where are the minor wars fought? In the Third World! It is the superpowers that practise hegemonism and sow discord. They are the ones with their hands in that arena! For many years, the superpowers have cashed in on conflicts between Third World countries in order to achieve their objectives. Although the Third World itself faces various problems, it is the Third World countries and their peoples that become the real victims. For this reason it must be the Third World that is the genuine and primary force for safeguarding world peace and opposing hegemonism, because this concern immediately affects Third World countries. This follows necessarily because of the position and immediate interests of the Third World itself.

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