National security matters to prosperity, Xi stresses

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has stressed adhering to systematic thinking in building a holistic national security architecture in the new era, and he said that national security work matters to governing the country as well as bringing prosperity and security to the nation and the people.

Xi made the remarks while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on national security on Friday.

Xi urged efforts to emphasize national security in the whole process and all aspects of the work of the Party and the country, making plans and arrangements for national security in coordination with those for economic and social development, promoting global security and world peace, and providing a strong guarantee for building a modern socialist China.

The CPC Central Committee's proposals for formulating the economic and social development plan and long-range goals, adopted at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, for the first time included ensuring development and security among the guiding principles for economic and social development in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, and laid out strategic plans to ensure both, Xi said.

This is determined by the historical juncture in China's development and the situation and tasks facing China's national security, he added.

Xi said that since the Party's 18th National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has strengthened its centralized and unified leadership over national security work, effectively dealt with a series of major risks and challenges, and maintained the overall stability of the country's national security.

He called for upholding the Party's absolute leadership over national security work, adhering to the path of national security with Chinese characteristics, and taking protecting the people's security as the mission to ensure that everything done for national security is for the sake of the people and relies on the people.

In promoting holistic national security, he said, efforts should be made to balance both development and security, and place equal emphasis on both aspects.

Top priority should be given to political security to safeguard the security of State power and the political system, Xi said, while calling for strengthening security in all respects and coordinating efforts to deal with traditional and nontraditional security.

He underscored the importance of forestalling and defusing national security risks as well as advancing common international security and jointly building a community with a shared future for mankind featuring universal security.

While calling for modernizing China's national security system and capacity, he also called for strengthening the competence of staff working for national security.