Party leader Hu Jintao's report to the 17th CPC National Congress was "very forward-leaning" and "Hu tells it as it is", according to comments posted at online bulletin boards.

One netizen said at Xinhuanet.com that Hu's report was an "excellent one that highlights people's livelihood".

"The CPC cares the most for livelihood, prosperity and harmony of Chinese society," the post read.

Another surfer said the CPC central leadership has adjusted its benchmarks for evaluating economic and social development in a very scientific way.

"If we proceed in this way we have a good chance of achieving the goal of building a moderately prosperous society," he said.

A netizen on cctv.com praised Hu for his candor for talking about the challenges China still has to face.

"He talks about things ordinary people are thinking about," the surfer wrote.

A visitor to sohu.com said: "We can all see the achievements made by China over the past five years, but it is good to see so many problems being mentioned in a political report to the Party congress."

In his address on Monday, Hu lambasted corruption, the widening wealth gap and unwise use of resources in recent years. But he said the CPC was able to address all those issues.

Xinhua

(China Daily 10/18/2007 page5)