国内英语新闻:Top political advisor meets Chinese Buddhist, Taoist leaders

BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Yang on Friday met with the leadership of the Buddhist Association of China and that of the Taoist Association of China, respectively, in Beijing.

On behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, extended congratulations to the national congresses of the two religious associations.

Wang called on the religious groups to rally religious figures and believers around the Party and government, and make contributions to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Stressing that the two associations should resolutely uphold the CPC leadership and socialism, Wang noted that the associations should also educate and guide the religious figures and believers to firmly build national, legal and civic awareness.

Wang also said he hoped that the two associations would pay more attention to training religious personnel while consciously guarding against the negative influence of commercialization.

The Buddhist Association of China and the Taoist Association of China recently held their tenth national congresses in east China's Zhejiang and Jiangsu, respectively, to elect new leadership.