Jiang welcomes rich to the party

President Jiang Zemin yesterday welcomed the new rich into the Chinese Communist Party on the 80th anniversary of its founding, telling cadres to give up 'outdated notions' about the development of Marxism.

The President also vowed in his speech to delegates in the Great Hall of the People to continue the war against corruption, but said little about political liberalisation.

Mr Jiang said it was incorrect to use wealth to judge whether a person was politically progressive. 'It is not advisable to judge a person's political integrity simply by whether one owns property and how much property he or she owns,' Mr Jiang was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

'But rather, we should judge him or her mainly by his or her political awareness, moral integrity and performance, by how he or she has acquired the property, and how it has been disposed of and used, and by his or her actual contribution to the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics.'

Many entrepreneurs, technical professionals employed outside the state sector, managers hired by foreign firms and self-employed people were working to build socialism with Chinese characteristics, he said.

The 64.5 million-strong Communist Party should admit 'outstanding people from other parts of society' in addition to its rank-and-file membership - mainly farmers, workers, intellectuals, soldiers and cadres - to boost its 'influence and cohesiveness', he said.