2. Improve the socialist legal system. We must see to it that there are laws to go by, the laws are observed and strictly enforced, and law-breakers are prosecuted. To adapt to the new situation characterized by the development of a socialist market economy, all-round social progress and China's accession to the WTO, we will strengthen legislation and improve its quality and will have formulated a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics by the year 2010. We must see to it that all people are equal before the law. We should tighten supervision over law enforcement, promote the exercise of administrative functions according to law, safeguard judicial justice and raise the level of law enforcement so that laws are strictly implemented. We must safeguard the uniformity and sanctity of the legal system and prevent or overcome local and departmental protectionism. We will extend and standardize legal services and provide effective legal aid. We should give more publicity to the legal system so that the people are better educated in law. In particular, we will enhance the public servants' awareness of law and their ability to perform their official duties according to law. Party members and cadres, especially leading cadres, should play an exemplary role in abiding by the Constitution and other laws.
3. Reform and improve the Party's style of leadership and governance. This is a matter of overall significance to improving socialist democracy. Leadership by the Party mainly refers to its political, ideological and organizational leadership. The Party exercises leadership over the state and society by formulating major principles and policies, making suggestions on legislation, recommending cadres for important positions, conducting ideological publicity, giving play to the role of Party organizations and members and persisting in exercising state power according to law. Party committees, playing the role as the core of leadership among all other organizations at corresponding levels, should concentrate on handling important matters and support those organizations in assuming their responsibilities independently and making concerted efforts in their work. We will further reform and improve the Party's working organs and mechanisms. Acting on the principle that the Party commands the overall situation and coordinates the efforts of all quarters, we will standardize relations between Party committees on the one hand and people's congresses, governments, CPPCC committees and mass organizations on the other. We will support people's congresses in performing their functions as organs of state power according to law, in ensuring that the Party's views become the will of the state and that candidates recommended by Party organizations become leading cadres of the organs of state power through legal procedures, and in exercising supervision over them. We will support the government in fulfilling its legal functions and performing its official duties according to law. We will support CPPCC committees in performing their functions by centering on the two major subjects of unity and democracy. We will strengthen the Party's leadership over trade unions, the Communist Youth League organizations, women's federations and other mass organizations and support them in working according to law and their own constitutions and acting as a bridge between the Party and the people.
4. Reform and improve the decision-making mechanism. Correct decision-making is an important prerequisite for success in all work. We will improve the decision-making mechanism by which decision-makers will go deep among the people and get to know how they are faring, reflect their will, pool their wisdom and value their resources, putting decision-making on a more scientific and democratic basis. Decision-making organs at all levels should improve the rules and procedures for taking major policy decisions, establish a system of reporting social conditions and public opinion, a system of keeping the public informed and a system of public hearings on major issues closely related to the interests of the people, perfect the expert consulting system and implement a verification system and a responsibility system in making policy decisions with a view to preventing arbitrary decision-making.
5. Deepen administrative restructuring. We should further change the functions of the government, improve the methods of management, introduce e-government, uplift administrative efficiency and reduce costs so as to form an administrative system featuring standardized behaviors, coordinated operation, fairness and transparency, honesty and high efficiency. We should standardize the functions and powers of the Central Government and local authorities according to law and properly handle relations between the departments directly under the Central Government and the local governments. Following the principle of simplification, uniformity and efficiency and meeting the requirements of coordination in decision-making, execution and supervision, we will continue to promote the restructuring of government departments, standardize their functions in a scientific manner, rationalize their set-ups, and optimize their composition in order to delimit the structures and sizes statutorily and solve the problems of too many levels, overlapping functions, overstaffing, divorce between powers and responsibilities and duplicate law enforcement. We will reform the management system of institutions in accordance with the principle of separating the functions of government from those of institutions.
6. Promote the reform of the judicial system. A socialist judicial system must guarantee fairness and justice in the whole society. In accordance with the requirements of judicial justice and strict law enforcement, we should improve the setups of judicial organs, the delimitation of their functions and powers and their management systems so as to form a sound judicial system featuring clearly specified powers and responsibilities, mutual coordination and restraint and highly efficient operation. We should institutionally ensure that the judicial and procuratorial organs are in a position to exercise adjudicative and procuratorial powers independently and impartially according to law. We should improve judicial proceedings and protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and legal persons. We should solve the problem of difficult enforcement of judgments. We should reform the working mechanisms of judicial organs and the management system of their human, financial and material resources and gradually separate their judicial adjudication and procuratorial work from their administrative affairs. We will tighten supervision over the judicial work and punish corruption in this field. We will build up a contingent of judicial personnel who are politically steadfast and professionally competent, have a fine style of work and enforce laws impartially.