Of the 39 years since the People's Republic of China was established, in the first eight we did our work well and also in the last ten, but during the intervening years of ``Left'' interference, things were not so good. We are pleased with our development over the past ten years. Looking back, I think we have been doing the correct thing. The Party's Thirteenth National Congress held last year decided not only to continue to follow the established principles and policies but to go one step further in reform and opening to the outside world. We believe that as long as we carry out these principles and policies, we shall succeed. On the other hand, there are still risks ahead, and we cannot expect smooth sailing all the way. Nevertheless, we must pursue the reform, and if problems arise, we have to solve them promptly and properly. We cannot allow stagnation, which is only a dead end.

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The report [of the Twelfth Central Committee] to the Thirteenth National Congress of our Party represents a collective effort, concentrating the wisdom of thousands of people; it is not my work alone. Of course, the report reflects my views, but in the main it embodies collective opinions. I have contributed to the line, principles and policies formulated since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party held in 1978, but I was not the only one to do so. Therefore, the accomplishments of the last nine years should not all be attributed to me; I should be considered simply a member of the collective. It is not good to exaggerate the role of any one individual.

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The ``cultural revolution'' caused us to waste ten whole years. At bottom, most of the mistakes made during the socialist period in China have come from the ``Left'', and the ``Left'' things started in 1957.

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China is developing its economy in three steps. Two steps will be taken in this century, to reach the point where our people have adequate food and clothing and lead a fairly comfortable life. The third step, which will take us 30 to 50 years into the next century, is to reach the level of the moderately developed countries. These are our strategic objectives and our high ambitions. It would be impossible for us to fulfil those aspirations without carrying out reform and opening to the outside world. The road ahead of us is still long and our tasks formidable, so we must all work hard and concentrate on developing the economy and expanding the productive forces.

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Developments in China over the last few years have shown that whenever an area carries out reform and opens to the outside world, it prospers. Lately some people abroad have been commenting that the pace of reform in China has slowed and predicting that the government is going to change its policies. There is some basis for the first assertion but none at all for the second. Problems will always crop up during the reform process, and adjustments will be made to solve them. Throughout last year and this we have continued our reform and opening up, although at a more cautious pace. Now it looks as though the pace has been a little too slow, so we are proposing to proceed more boldly. Reform and opening up are new undertakings, so we have no precedent to go by; all we can do is proceed in the light of the specific conditions in our country. Our experience indicates that it should be beneficial to go a little faster. Of course, a faster pace also means more risk.

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In the People's Republic of China there is no discrimination against different nationalities, and our policy in Tibet is based on genuine equality of the nationalities. China has dozens of minority nationalities, which, however, account for only 6 per cent of the total population, the rest being Han. Nevertheless, in the people's congresses and in administrative organs at all levels, the proportion of cadres from the minority groups far exceeds 6 per cent. As for the harm done to minority nationalities during the ``cultural revolution'', that sort of thing can't be used as evidence that we discriminate against them. In those years it was not just the minorities that suffered; it was the Han nationality that was hit hardest. The majority of the revolutionaries of the older generation, nearly all Han, were toppled, including myself.

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Our Party's Thirteenth National Congress will reaffirm the principles and policies formulated since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in 1978, in particular the policies of reform and opening to the outside world. Not only will these policies be continued--indeed, they will be carried out more boldly in domains where we have not done enough--but political restructuring will also be put on the agenda.

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Since our two parties resumed contact we have had very good relations. It was Comrade Tito who visited China first and turned a new page in the history of relations between the two parties. At that time our Party Chairman was Comrade Hua Guofeng. I met with Comrade Tito just as an old soldier. We had a cordial talk and agreed to forget the past and look to the future. This is the attitude we adopted when we resumed relations with other East European parties and countries; we take the present as a fresh starting point from which to develop friendly, cooperative relations. Of course, it's still worthwhile to analyse events of the past. But I think the most important thing is that each party, whether it is big, small or medium, should respect the experience of the others and the choices they have made and refrain from criticizing the way the other parties and countries conduct their affairs. This should be our attitude not only towards parties in power but also towards those that are not in power. When we had talks with representatives of the Communist parties of France and Italy, we expressed this view that we should respect their experience and their choices. If they have made mistakes, it is up to them to correct them. Likewise, they should take the same attitude towards us, allowing us to make mistakes and correct them. Every country and every party has its own experience, which differs from that of the others in a thousand and one ways.

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Although I have not been to your country, I know that much land in the Netherlands was reclaimed from the sea, and your spirit of hard work is marvelous. In China we have a saying, "The foolish old man removed mountains." This represents a tradition of our nation. One might say of your people "The foolish old man reclaimed land from the sea." China's average per capita amount of arable land is small, and yours is even smaller, but you have been successful in your work, and your country has become a big exporter of farm products. So we should learn from you.

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Friendly relations between China and Japan and between our two peoples began to develop in the era of Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. Many of our friends in Japan, including those from political, academic and press circles, have worked hard and accomplished a great deal over the last several decades. One of the pioneers who have been helping to promote good relations between the two countries is Mr. Tokuma Utsunomiya. All of our friends present here today have been working for dozens of years to improve relations between China and Japan. The Chinese people hope for good relations with the Japanese people, and more than 90 per cent of Japanese also want to see good relations between the two countries.

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