BEIJING, March 5: China today pledged to implement its earlier commitment to cut its troops by five lakh and engage in `friendly and good-neighbourly relations' with bordering countries while resisting all forms of hegemonism and power politics."We shall complete on schedule the task of reducing our armed forces by 500,000 persons within three years," Premier Li Peng announced while presenting his government's work report to the newly- elected ninth National People's Congress (NPC), China's Parliament.Li, who will step down as premier next week after completing two successive five-year terms, said China had adhered to an "independent foreign policy of peace" and would develop friendly and good-neighbourly relations with the countries bordering China."The Chinese Government has all along maintained that state-to-state relations should be established on the basis of the five principles of peaceful coexistence and that disputes should be settled peacefully through consultations on an equal footing," hesaid."Resolutely against hegemonism in whatever form, China is forever an important force contributing to world peace and regional stability," Li said while reassuring the world that the Chinese Government was ready to work with other governments to make its due contribution in establishing a "peaceful, stable, just and equitable new international political and economic order so as to promote peace and development."Li assured the newly-elected 2,979 NPC deputies that by sticking to principle and resisting pressure, China had safeguarded its state's sovereignty, territorial integrity and national dignity."China's solidarity and cooperation with developing countries have been further strengthened and its relations with developed countries have improved," the Premier stressed and added that China's international standing had been "gradually raised."Commenting on the international situation, Li noted that the trend towards multipolarity was becoming "increasingly clear." He also said peace anddevelopment remained the two main themes of the world and big powers continued to "readjust" their relations.He touched upon Sino-US, Sino-Russian, Sino-Japanese and Sino-European Union relations and stressed that all these had entered a new stage of development during the past years.Li said China would continue to play a "constructive role" in the affairs of the United Nations.Li slashes ministries Premier Li Peng announced a major shakeup of China's government structure on Thursday to strengthen macro-economic control. He also projected continued economic growth for the coming year, giving a target of eight per cent. He said the decision to slash the number of ministries and ministry-level commissions from 40 to 29 was "urgently needed" to whip the nation's bloated bureaucracy into shape.
