Officials must improve speeches, Xi says

BEIJING - Party officials must rid their speeches and documents of "empty words", Vice-President Xi Jinping said in a speech published on Sunday.

At the opening of the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's spring semester held on Wednesday in Beijing, Xi told more than 900 officials and new cadre students that they must improve their speeches and writing by promoting independent-thinking and ridding their speeches and documents of "empty words" and political jargon.

To achieve this the Party should create a tolerant environment that encouraged speeches containing new ideas, he said.