"People in China should enjoy equal rights and interests in terms of politics, the economy and culture, regardless of whether they live in cities or in the countryside," said Xie Chuntao, a professor with the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The report to the 18th CPC National Congress has pledged to safeguard social fairness and justice, as "fairness and justice are inherent requirements of socialism with Chinese characteristics."

The report said the CPC will work to establish, in due course, a system guaranteeing social equity featuring "equal rights, equal opportunities and fair rules for all," as well as foster a fair social environment and ensure people's equal right to governance participation and development.

TROUBLE FOR LOCALS

About 1,000 miles away from coastal Qingdao, 34-year-old kindergarten teacher Zhu Yingxiang works to promote equal access to education for another group of children -- local kids in rural areas of northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Zhu has only 30 students, aged three to five, and they all live in two villages in a mountainous area of Qinghai.

To ensure the children don't have to travel far for schooling, Zhu shuttles between the two villages to give preschool lessons, including folk song singing, storytelling and riddle solving, to the shepherds' children.

Zhu is among seven early education volunteers in Fengdui Township that teach over 100 preschoolers living in different villages.

"When the kids first came to the preschool lessons, they were shy about talking to strangers and could not speak Mandarin Chinese, which left them unable to communicate well with others," Zhu recalled.