Social harmony will be the headline topic when the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee meets for its annual session next month.

The decision to convene the Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the CPC in Beijing from October 8 to 11 was made on Monday at a meeting of the Party's Political Bureau. The meeting was presided over by General Secretary Hu Jintao.

Members discussed the work of the Political Bureau since the Fifth Plenary Session in September last year, according to a statement issued yesterday.

The Political Bureau examined a report on consultations with Party members and the public on the "Resolutions of the CPC Central Committee on major issues regarding the building of a harmonious socialist society".

The statement said comments and suggestions from the process should be reflected in the document, so as to pool the wisdom of the Party and the public.

The document should provide clear guidelines to the Party and the nation on building a harmonious socialist society.

Political Bureau members stressed that while building a harmonious socialist society, people should come first, and Party and State efforts must be made in the fundamental interests of the general public and meet their growing material and cultural demands.

Earnest efforts must be made to push co-ordinated development in all sectors and regions, they said, according to the statement.

The reform of the socialist market economy must be continued to push forward economic, political, cultural and social innovation, and set up a more energetic, efficient and open system, it said.

Efforts must be made to improve the building of a socialist democracy, and implement the rule of law in the process of building a fair social security system, said the statement.

The meeting emphasized the need to take into consideration the momentum of reform, the speed of development and people's resilience, and to promote and secure harmony with reform, development and stability.

Stressing that the Party was the key to building a harmonious socialist society, the meeting said it must play a leading role in accordance with the principle of governing for the people, the statement said.

That would be facilitated by the Party's governance capacity and the campaign to help it stay advanced, thus offering a forceful political guarantee for building a harmonious society, it said.

All Party committees should encourage cadres to improve the management of public affairs and co-ordinate the views of different interest groups to ensure implementation of the Party's policies and principles.