16th CPC National Congress extremely important: spokesman   2002-11-07 17:26:01 The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China （CPC）, the first Party Congress in the new century, is an extremely important meeting to be held at a time when China has entered a new development stage of ushering in a fairly comfortable life for the people in a comprehensive manner and accelerating its socialist modernization drive, Party Congress spokesman Ji Bingxuan said at a press conference on Thursday. The congress, slated to open in Beijing on Friday, will last a week through November 14, said the spokesman. The congress will review the Party's work in the past five years since its 15th National Congress, and sum up the basic experience the Party has acquired from its efforts to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups for the great practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics since the beginning of reform and opening up, especially since the Fourth Plenum of the 13th CPC Central Committee in 1989. The congress is also expected to make strategic arrangements for the overall advancement of China's reform and opening up and socialist modernization drive, as well as for the overall advancement of the grand project of Party building in the new century and the new development stage, the spokesman added.