Modern China

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Lots of foreign state leaders also lamented over Deng's death. The Chinese people were determined to turn grief into strength to push forward, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Jiang Zemin at the core, the reform and opening to the outside world and the cause of socialist modernization, the endeavor which was initiated by Deng Xiaoping. 

The Chinese people will make efforts to turn China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and modern socialist country.

The Fifteenth National Congress of the CPC, which was held in September 1997, approved the work report of the Fourteenth Central Committee and the resolution on the amendments to the Constitution of the Communist Party of China. 

The Congress unanimously agreed to take Deng Xiaoping Theory as the guiding ideology for the Party and write it into the CPC Constitution. The Congress also elected the new Central Committee. 

The First Plenary Session of the Fifteenth Central Committee elected Jiang Zemin General Secretary and Chairman of the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee.

The national economy maintained the appropriately fast growth in 1997. The GDP of 1997 reached 7.4772 trillion yuan, with an increase of 8.8 percent over the previous year. 

The added value of agriculture reached 1.3674 trillion yuan, adding by 3.5 percent and with its proportion in the whole economy declining by 1.9 percent. The added value of industry reached 3.677 trillion yuan, increasing by 10.8 percent and with its proportion in the whole economy enlarging by 0.2 percent. 

The added value of the service sector reached 2.4328 trillion yuan, increasing by 8.2 percent and with its proportion in the whole economy expanding by 1.7 percent. 

The labor productivity of the whole society in 1997 was valued at 5, 637 yuan, increasing by 7.5 percent over the previous year.

The national economy continued to grow rapidly and market prices basically remained stable. The margin of price rises continued to fall. Retail prices rose by 0.8 percent, representing a drop of 5.3 percentage points over 1996, and consumer prices rose by 2.8 percent, 5.5 percentage points less than the figure for the previous year.

In 1997, China enjoyed a favorable international balance of payments, both on the current account and the capital account, and the country's national foreign exchange reserves reached 139.9 billion US dollars, with an annual increase of 34.9 billion US dollars.

The income of the urban and rural population increased significantly and the standard of living was improved. In 1997 the average per capita disposable income reached 5,160 yuan for city dwellers, representing an increase of 3.4 percent in real terms than the previous year. The average per capita net income of rural residents rose to 2, 090 yuan, representing an increase of 4.6 percent in real terms than the previous year.