BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for a resolute opposition against any words and actions that damage the country's ethnic unity.

"We will build a 'wall of bronze and iron' for ethnic unity, social stability and national unity," he said while joining a panel discussion by members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

"Unity and stability are blessings, while secession and turmoil are disasters," he said. "People of all ethnic groups of the country should cherish the ethnic unity."