BEIJING, March 4 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji is set to take a tough line against the Falun Gong spiritual movement in a speech to lawmakers on Monday, while forecasting annual growth of around seven percent for the next five years.
Delegates who saw an advance copy of Zhu's speech to the National People's Congress (NPC) said he would call for a continuation of the fight against Falun Gong, which China has labelled an "evil cult", and urge the government to "strike a blow" against separatists, religious extremists and cults.
Zhu's text also called for an early solution to the question of Taiwan, which China considers part of its sovereign territory, reiterating Beijing's demand for peaceful reunification under the "one country, two systems" formula.
The government's five-year economic plan for 2001-05 and the problems of state industry and agriculture are also expected to feature strongly in the annual session of the legislature, which runs from March 5-15.
The 2,978 lawmakers -- hand-picked by local-level Communist Party officials across China -- will review plans to build a comprehensive social security system to cushion the blow of reform, and hear renewed vows to crack down on corruption.
JOB CREATION
Zhu's text forecast annual growth of seven percent for the next five years. Gross domestic product rose eight percent last year, and most economists see it rising 7.5-8 percent in 2001.
China will try to keep urban unemployment within five percent from 2001-2005 and create jobs for 40 million people no longer needed in the agriculture sector, Zhu's text said.
He was set to repeat China's goal of building a "modern corporate system" from the ailing state sector, delegates said.
Entrepreneurs urged President Jiang Zemin on Sunday to grant the private sector more rights to create jobs for workers laid off from state firms.
Police guarding Tiananmen Square next to parliament headquarters at the Great Hall of the People at the weekend had fire extinguishers at hand in a sign of vigilance against protests by Falun Gong members.
Adherents have often protested on the square since China banned the group in 1999. Five alleged Falun Gong members tried to burn themselves to death in January, and one woman died.
State media quoted official religious groups assembled or he NPC session as backing the crackdown on Falun Gong.
In a speech on Saturday, Ye Xuanping, vice chairman of an advisory body to the NPC, said "the struggle against the Falun Gong cult will be complex, protracted and acute".
Corruption remains a hot topic for China's lawmakers, who have taken an increasingly critical look both at massive state spending to stimulate the economy and on government claims of success in fighting officials who pocket state funds.
GRAFT PROVES HARD TO TAME
"China has continuously redoubled its anti-corruption efforts in recent years, but why do we still see so many big graft cases?" asked the popular Beijing Youth Daily on Sunday.
In an apparent attempt to highlight its anti-graft resolve before the NPC session, China sentenced seven people to death for tax fraud on Friday.
Some observers expect the scandal, centred on Guangdong province, to become the biggest corruption case of the Communist era, eclipsing a $6 billion smuggling case in Fujian province for which seven people were executed a week ago.
Premier Zhu Rongji will hold his annual news conference on the closing day of the conference in a live televised event that gives reporters their only chance of the year to put questions to the blunt-speaking champion of economic reforms.
For many analysts, the relatively powerless parliament pales in interest compared to manoeuvring in the run-up to the 16th Communist Party congress next year, when five of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee are to retire.
They include party chief and state president Jiang Zemin, NPC Chairman Li Peng and Zhu. All three are due to retire from their government posts in 2003.
The NPC will offer a look at a new batch of provincial governors, some of whom could rise into top jobs as the "fourth generation" of Chinese leaders, following the eras of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang.