Xi stresses high-quality development with Jiangsu delegation

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed that high-quality development is the top priority in building China into a modern socialist country in all respects. He made the remarks on Sunday afternoon during a deliberation with deputies from the delegation of Jiangsu Province at the first session of the 14th National People's Congress. Xi is a deputy of the delegation.

Xi stressed that we must fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts, and as far as understanding, assessing and promoting development is concerned, we must make sure that the development is innovative, coordinated, green, open and for everyone in a well-integrated manner. A better balance must be maintained between effective rise in quality and reasonable growth in quantity, with quality first and priority given to economic and social benefits. We need to raise awareness of quality, and regard quality as precious as life to pursue higher quality. We must stay committed to deepening reform and opening up, further transform the growth model, and work for better quality with higher efficiency and more robust drivers of economic growth through reform, so as to accelerate the development of institutions and mechanisms for sustainable high-quality development. Our ultimate goal is to meet people's increasing expectation for a better life, so it is important to transform the achievements of development into quality of life so as to constantly increase people's sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security.

Xi was received by a round of warm applause when he came to the Jiangsu delegation.

The atmosphere was warm and serious in the delegation's panel deliberation. Deputies Xu Kunlin, Liu Qing, Shan Zenghai, Wei Qiao, Zhang Dadong and Wu Qingwen shared their opinions on how to serve the fostering of a new development pattern, how to vigorously promote coordinated innovation across regions, how to develop a stronger manufacturing industry, how to be "new farmers" of the times, how to cultivate talents for the Party, and how to be the pacemaker of the Chinese path to modernization. Xi would often make remarks between their speeches and compare notes with other deputies.

Having listened carefully to the deputies, Xi made a speech. He said that, first of all, he thought well of the Report on the Work of the Government, and affirmed the achievements that Jiangsu has made over the past five years in various areas including social and economic development as well as Party building. He said he hoped that Jiangsu would continue to forge ahead with solid efforts and take the lead on the journey of high-quality development, so as to make a good start for the new chapter of Jiangsu's modernization drive featuring strong economy, prosperity for residents, beautiful environment and developed culture and ethics, and make new and greater contributions to the overall development of the country.

Xi pointed out that speeding up efforts to achieve greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology is the path we must take to promote high-quality development. Facing fierce global competitions, we must open up new areas and new tracks in development and foster new growth drivers and new strengths, which, fundamentally, depends on sci-tech innovation. Whether we will be able to finish building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects as scheduled or not depends on whether we can achieve self-reliance and strength in science and technology. We must adhere to the principles of targeting global scientific and technological frontiers, serving the economy, meeting major national needs and striving to improve people's lives and health. We must accelerate the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, promote in-depth cooperation between industries, universities and research institutes, and intensify efforts to develop major platforms for sci-tech innovation. We must support top scientists to take the lead in conducting original and pioneering scientific and technological research in order to achieve breakthroughs and overcome difficulties in core technologies in key fields, so as to ensure that key areas and links can fall within our own hands. We must strengthen the dominant position of enterprises, promote deeper integration of the innovation, industrial, capital and talent chains, give full play to the guiding and supporting role of key high-tech enterprises, and promote healthy development of micro, small and medium-sized technological enterprises. We must constantly promote the transformation and industrial application of scientific research and technological development results, so as to build a center for industrial and sci-tech innovation with global competitiveness. We need to deepen reform of science and technology system, vigorously foster a culture of innovation, and perfect the system for appraisal of science and technology and the incentive mechanism, so as to create an enabling environment for innovative personnel to stand out and give full play to their talents.

Xi pointed out that accelerating the creation of a new development pattern is the strategic foundation for promoting high-quality growth. We should make sure that our implementation of the strategy to expand domestic demand is integrated with our efforts to deepen supply-side structural reform, and move faster to modernize the industrial system. In pursuing economic growth, we must continue to focus on the real economy. We need to advance new industrialization, intensify efforts to re-engineer the industrial foundation and tackle key issues in major technologies and equipment, so as to make the manufacturing sector high-end, smarter, and greener. We should move faster to build up Jiangsu's strength in manufacturing, vigorously develop strategic emerging industries, and accelerate the development of the digital economy. We should, in accordance with the requirements of building a high-standard socialist market economy and promoting high-standard opening up, deepen reform in key areas, make coordinated efforts to put in place a modern infrastructure system and a high-standard market system, and steadily expand institutional opening up.

Xi emphasized that strong agriculture is the foundation of a strong modern socialist country, and promoting agricultural modernization is a prerequisite for achieving high-quality development. We should safeguard the red line of 120 million hectares of farmland, keep sown area at a stable level, increase the area of high-standard cropland, and secure the stable and safe supply of grain and important agricultural products. We should take industrial development as the top priority of rural revitalization, actively extend and expand the agricultural industry chain, cultivate and develop new industries and new forms of business in rural areas, so as to create more channels for farmers to increase their incomes. We should optimize the layout of townships and villages, coordinate the development of rural infrastructure and public service system, carry out in-depth actions to improve rural living environment, and speed up the building of a beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable to live and work in. We should leverage the strengths of science and technology and reform to advance reform of the rural land system, consolidate and improve the basic rural operation system, develop new rural collective economies, cultivate new types of agribusiness and commercial agricultural services, and support appropriately scaled agricultural operations, so as to inject momentum and vitality into the agricultural and rural development.

Xi pointed out that promoting high-quality development is for the wellbeing of the people. Primary-level governance and livelihood support concern people's immediate interests, and are thus a foundation-laying work for promoting common prosperity and achieving a high quality of life. Party committees and governments at all levels must bear this in mind, do the work well all the times and make sure that achievements are made in this regard. They should improve the mechanism for community-level self-governance guided by primary-level Party organizations, strengthen the development of grassroots-level organizations, and perfect the platform for primary-level governance featuring grid-based management, meticulous services and information technology support. They should also improve the governance system for urban and rural communities to bring high-quality service and detailed management to the doorsteps of the people. They should carry on and develop the "Fengqiao Experience" in the new era, improve the mechanism for appropriately handling disputes among the people under new circumstances to timely defuse them at grassroots level and initial stage. They should focus on the most pressing difficulties and problems that are of great concern to the people, take more measures that can improve people's livelihood and warm the cockles of their hearts, refine the basic public service system, make an effort to support employment of key groups, adjust income distribution, improve the social security system and boost the service for the elderly and the children. Practical and targeted efforts should be made for the control and prevention of the COVID-19 epidemic in the new phase, and every measure must be taken to manage COVID-19 as a Class B infectious disease. Efforts should be made to persistently strengthen the development of public health system, disease control and prevention system, and healthcare service system.

Lastly, Xi stressed that, to promote high quality development, the overall leadership of the Party must be upheld, and full and strict governance over the Party must be exercised in a steadfast manner. Party committees at all levels must take their due responsibilities for full and strict governance over the Party, take practical steps in further studying, publicizing and applying the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, strengthen team building of leaderships and officials at all levels after the change of office terms, reinforce Party building on all fronts, carry out thematic education on thoroughly learning and putting into practice the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, in order to provide staunch political guidance and political guarantee for us to forge ahead in the new journey and make contributions in the new era.

Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and He Lifeng were present.