Mao Zedong Thought 'guiding principle'

A leading Party theory professor from China's top think tank has dismissed speculation that Mao Zedong Thought would be amended or removed from the Communist Party of China's Constitution.

"Mao Zedong Thought is always the guiding principle of our Party," Wang Weiguang, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an alternate member of the 17th CPC Central Committee, said at a news conference focused on theoretical innovation of the Party during the ongoing 18th National Congress of the CPC on Friday.

The report Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC, delivered to the 18th Party Congress articulated that the theoretical system of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics has inherited the assets of Mao Zedong Thought including "seeking truth from facts", he said, adding that the two share the same origin of Marxism-Leninism.

The theoretical system of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics is an innovative achievement built on Mao Zedong Thought that keeps pace with the times, he said in response to a question raised by a reporter from Taiwan's United Daily News during the news conference on Friday night.

The fourth generation of Chinese leadership with Hu as general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC, have developed the Scientific Outlook on Development, he said.

It is an overall development of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics with an emphasis on social security, improvement of people's livelihoods, promotion of social equality and justice and advancement of the CPC's governance capability, progressiveness and purity, he said.

"Our overall approach (in building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics) is to promote economic, political, cultural, social and ecological progress," Hu told more than 2,200 delegates when he made the keynote speech at the Party congress on Thursday.

Li Jingtian, vice-president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said at the news conference that integrating ecological issues into the overall development plan makes the roadmap for building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics more sound.

Xin Ming, a professor of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said the Party Constitution has been updated from time to time to keep pace with China's social and economic development.

He said the report that President Hu delivered offered an explicit and unprecedented definition of Scientific Outlook on Development, which is one of the guidelines that both the Party and the society should adhere to for a long time.