BEIJING - Hu Jintao said here Thursday that the Communist Party of China (CPC) will intensify efforts to improve the basic public service system and ensure that all the people enjoy their rights to education, employment, medical and old-age care, and housing.

"We should bring as much benefit as possible to the people, resolve as many difficulties as possible for them, and solve the most pressing and real problems of the greatest concern to them," Hu said in a keynote speech at the opening of the CPC's 18th National Congress.

He said the CPC gives high priority to developing education and the Party will work hard to run education to the satisfaction of the people.

Hu listed a series of measures, including providing well-rounded education for all students, developing preschool education, promoting balanced development of nine-year compulsory education, and accelerating the development of modern vocational education.

"We should vigorously promote fairness in education, and ensure balanced allocation of educational resources with a focus on rural, remote, poor and ethnic minority areas," Hu said.

Talking about employment, Hu said the country should increase job opportunities for young people, especially university graduates, the rural migrant labor force, urban residents who have difficulty finding jobs, and ex-servicepersons.

The country should also strengthen vocational skill training, improve the human resources market and employment services, strengthen supervision of labor protection and labor dispute mediation and arbitration, and build harmonious labor relations.

To ensure that the people share in the fruits of development, Hu said the CPC must deepen reform of the income distribution system.

"We should raise the share of individual income in the distribution of national income and increase the share of work remuneration in primary distribution," he said.

Hu said the country should improve the way in which income is distributed, protect lawful income, increase the income of low-income groups, adjust excessively high income, and prohibit illicit income.

On social security, Hu said the country should institute a complete, multi-tiered and sustainable system to provide basic social security for both the urban and rural population.

Hu also said China should actively address population aging and vigorously develop old-age services.

Keeping to the goal of improving people' s health, China should improve the medical insurance system that covers the whole population, establish a mechanism to provide insurance and aid in treating major and very serious diseases, and improve mechanisms for handling public health emergencies and for preventing and controlling major diseases, Hu said.

China should improve the rural medical and health service network at county, township and village levels and the system of urban community health services, deepen reform of public hospitals, and encourage the development of private hospitals, he said.

"We must adhere to the basic state policy of family planning, improve the health of newborns, steadily improve the population policy and promote long-term and balanced population growth," Hu said.

Hu also said China should improve the system for handling people's complaints expressed in letters or visits and maintain regular and open channels for the people to voice their demands.

The country should also establish a sound mechanism for assessing potential risks major policy decisions may pose to social stability, he said.