Xi calls for balancing nation's development, security

President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to advance the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level to ensure steady and sustained progress in Chinese modernization.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in his recent instruction on the initiative. His instruction was conveyed at a working conference on the initiative held on Monday in Beijing.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, China has made significant progress in building a safe country, further consolidating a sound environment in which people live and work in peace and society remains stable and orderly, Xi said, adding that China has become one of the safest countries in the world.

On the new journey, China should firmly implement a holistic approach to national security and uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership in this area, Xi said.

He stressed better coordinating development and security, combining punishment with prevention and addressing both the symptoms and root causes of problems.

He also called for strengthening legal support and leveraging technology to enhance the construction of the national security system and capabilities, and guarding against and defusing various risks.

According to the CPC Central Committee's Commission for Political and Legal Affairs, China recorded its lowest number of criminal and homicide cases this century in 2025, while the public's satisfaction rate regarding safety reached 98.23 percent, remaining above 98 percent for a sixth consecutive year.

The downward trend of such cases continued in the first half of the year, with criminal cases falling 16.5 percent year-on-year, homicide cases down 11.4 percent, and gun-related cases dropping 53.3 percent.

Authorities have continued regular operations against organized crime and intensified efforts to combat telecommunications and online fraud, while working to prevent risks in areas including finance, real estate and labor relations.

Beyond combating crime, grassroots mechanisms for resolving disputes have also been expanded. About 9.76 million disputes were resolved through such mechanisms in 2025 and another 7.13 million in the first half of this year. The total number of petitions in 2025 fell to its lowest level this century, according to the commission.

The Peaceful China Initiative will place greater emphasis on risk monitoring and early warning, prevention-oriented public security governance, and the resolution of disputes at the grassroots level, the meeting said. Efforts will also be intensified to combat serious violent crimes, gun — and explosives-related offenses, human trafficking and telecom fraud, while grassroots disputes will be addressed at an early stage to prevent them from escalating into serious criminal cases.