Xi urges key tasks for Yunnan

President calls for continued work to ensure residents benefit from blue sky, clean water

President Xi Jinping underlined on Tuesday the need for Yunnan province to win the battle against absolute poverty and to step up efforts in environmental conservation, urging it to advance supply-side structural reforms to achieve high-quality economic growth.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a meeting in Yunnan's capital Kunming that was attended by officials of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee and the provincial government.

Xi concluded a three-day inspection tour in the province on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming Spring  Festival.

At the meeting, Xi urged officials to focus their poverty relief efforts on impoverished areas and implement targeted measures to resolutely win the battle against poverty.

He reminded officials that measures should be taken to prevent those who have shaken off poverty from becoming poor again due to inadequate followup policy support.

The president underscored the importance of environmental conservation and asked officials to uphold the concept that clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, to make continued efforts to ensure people enjoy blue skies and clean water and soil.

In the new era, China must stick to a new development vision that features innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared aspects for the benefit of all to push for high-quality economic growth, Xi said.

He also called on the province to step up building the modern economy, improve the systems and mechanisms for developing advanced manufacturing and revitalizing the real economy, upgrade traditional manufacturing, accelerate emerging industries, advance infrastructure construction and enhance agricultural production.

Xi also called on the province to expand opening-up for greater development and speed up connectivity projects as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges with neighboring countries.

Xi also visited a village of the Wa ethnic group in Tengchong city and learned of the poverty reduction efforts in the area.

When visiting an ecological wetland near Dianchi Lake in Kunming, he stressed the importance of environmental protection of the lake and called for continuous efforts to truly turn lucid waters and lush mountains into invaluable assets.

He inspected market supply conditions ahead of Chinese New Year in Kunming, interacted with locals and extended holiday greetings to all Chinese people at home and abroad.

Xi also visited the former site of National Southwest Associated University, a coalition between Beijing-based Peking University and Tsinghua University, and Tianjin's Nankai University during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), and learned about the history of the institution.