Xi stresses pivotal role of infrastructure

General secretary presides over key meeting on financial, economic affairs

A key Party meeting on Tuesday set the tone for comprehensively bolstering infrastructure construction nationwide, highlighting the significance of implementing such a policy in upholding national security, expanding domestic consumption and promoting the country's high-quality development.

The meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs was presided over by Xi Jinping, who is president of China and general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. The meeting also underlined the need to make coordinated efforts in ensuring both development and security, take into account worst-case scenarios, and strengthen the capacity for major risk forecasting and early warning.

At Tuesday's meeting, a related commission and ministries under the State Council reported on efforts to comprehensively strengthen infrastructure construction, as well as on the implementation of decisions and policies made by the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs since the 19th National Congress of the CPC in 2017.

While presiding over the meeting, Xi, who is also the director of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, said infrastructure is the mainstay of the country's social and economic development.

He called for efforts to coordinate development and security, optimize the layout, function and development mode of the country's infrastructure and build a modern infrastructure system in order to lay a solid foundation for comprehensively building China into a modern socialist country.

The meeting's participants affirmed the marked progress the country has made in the overall development of infrastructure as well as its achievements in major scientific and technological facilities, water conservancy projects, transportation hubs and information infrastructure over the past decade, according to a statement issued after the meeting.