BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhuanet) -- The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council called a national meeting to discuss the development of Tibet on June 25-27 in Beijing.

The meeting, the fourth of its kind in history, was attended by senior Chinese leaders from central government departments and localities. President Jiang Zemin, who is also secretary-general of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said at the meeting that the fate of Tibet and the Tibetan people is and will continue to be tightly linked with the motherland and the whole Chinese nation.

"The coming five to ten years will be an important period for the development of both Tibet and the entire country," Jiang said. "We will continue to pay attention to two major issues in Tibet-- economic development and social stability."

Jiang said that the development, stability and safety of Tibet are of "extreme importance" for China, and the whole party and all related departments should maintain full awareness of this.
The President said that the central government will continue to increase its direct investment in Tibet, and the investment focus will be on infrastructure improvement.
Jiang expressed his wish for local officials in Tibet to further emancipate

their minds, to work even harder, to restructure the economic system, to make full use of the market system and to largely improve people's lives in Tibet.

Jiang also urged the related departments and officials to carry out the CPC's policies on religion, to protect legal religious activities while at the same time punishing those who conduct separatist and criminal activities using religion as camouflage."To uphold and improve the leadership of the CPC is an essential guarantee for an even better tomorrow for Tibet," Jiang said.

Zhu Rongji, Chinese Premier and also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said at the meeting that the central government has decided to directly invest in 117 construction projects in Tibet, with a total investment of around 31.2 billion yuan (3.8 billion US dollars).

Zhu also said that some other provincial governments will invest 1.06 billion yuan (130 million US dollars) in 70 construction projects in Tibet in the following several years, and Tibet will continue to enjoy a series of preferential policies.

Li Ruihuan, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said at the meeting that all CPC members should study the policies and decisions of the CPC central committee on Tibet work and help to build Tibet into a more prosperous autonomous region of China.

Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and Hu Jintao, Chinese Vice President -- also both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee -- respectively presided over the meeting's two sessions.