Jiang Zemin outlines main economic tasks for China （2）   2002-11-08 12:57:55 Top priority must be given to sustainable development, Jiang said, stressing adherence to the basic state policies of family planning and environmental protection. Jiang called for efforts to make the rural economy flourish and speed up urbanization, saying the county must strengthen the position of agriculture as the foundation of the economy, carry on the restructuring of agriculture and the rural economy, protect and raise the comprehensive grain production capacity and improve the competitiveness of agriculture in the market. It is essential to persist in the coordinated development of large, medium and small cities and small towns along the path to urbanization with Chinese characteristics, he said. Jiang said China must stick to the basic rural policies of the Party and keep stabilizing and improving the two－tier management system that integrates unified with separate management on the basis of household contract management. "We must continue with the reform in tax and fee in rural areas to lighten the burdens of farmers and protect their interests," he added. When talking about the development of the western region and the coordinated development of regional economies, Jiang said that to lay a solid foundation and go ahead in a down－to－earth manner, China must give priority to infrastructure and ecological environment improvement and strive for breakthroughs in a decade. "The state should provide the western region with greater support in such areas as investment projects, tax policies and transfer payments," he said.