Xi urges Guangxi to emancipate mind, innovate, promote ocean-oriented economy

NANNING -- During his recent inspection tour to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, emphasized that the region should faithfully implement the new development philosophy on all fronts.

He stressed the importance of the primary task to promote high-quality development and the strategic mission to build a new development paradigm. Guangxi should leverage its own advantages, foster a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, emancipate mind, and pursue innovations for change. It should seek ocean-oriented development opportunities and promote open development, so as to make greater achievement in promoting high-quality development in border areas with large ethnic minority populations, seeking continuous progress in building a socialist Guangxi with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and write its own chapter in advancing Chinese modernization.

Xi returned to China after concluding his state visit to Vietnam on Dec. 13. Accompanied by Liu Ning, secretary of the CPC Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Committee, and Lan Tianli, chairman of the regional government, Xi inspected Nanning, Laibin and other places and learned about their opening-up projects, residential communities, rural areas and enterprises from Dec. 14 to 15.

Xi first visited the China-ASEAN Information Harbor Co., Ltd. in Nanning on the morning of Dec. 14. He learned in detail about the China-ASEAN Information Harbor's construction and operation, and economic and trade cooperation projects between China and ASEAN. He was briefed on the construction of the major projects of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor with the help of a sand table. Xi pointed out that the construction of the harbor is an important move to promote the Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen ties between China and ASEAN countries. Guangxi should take proactive measures, play a pivotal role, strengthen the development and application of information technology, so as to inject new impetus into advancing high-level opening up and promoting continuous cooperation with ASEAN.

Panlong Residential Community in Liangqing District, Nanning City, is a multi-ethnic neighborhood. Xi paid a visit to the community's CPC service center, and listened to staff's briefing on how the center conducted theoretical study program, did their bit for residents and enterprises, and organized activities with ethnic characteristics. He expressed appreciation for their practice of consolidating cohesion through Party building, and promoting development through providing services. In the cultural and sports activity room, he keenly observed community residents practicing calligraphy and singing folk songs. He interacted warmly with everyone, encouraging the community to fully utilize talent, venues, and other resources to carry out more cultural activities that promote health and intellect, so as to inspire greater positive energy. Xi emphasized that residential community is the basic unit of grassroots autonomy and the foundation of the national governance. It is the superiority of China's distinctive grassroots governance for residential communities to take care of the elderly and children as well as responding to the concerns of residents. A good job must be done to give full play to this superiority, Xi said. Building communities where residents from different ethnic groups live is an important way for people from different ethnicities to interact, communicate, and integrate. In developing Guangxi as a demonstration zone for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, efforts should first be made in developing residential communities. Through solid development in this regard, effective services of residential communities, and their diverse activities, a strong atmosphere of kinship among people of all ethnicities should be created, contributing to even better ethnic unity.

Upon his leaving, people from various ethnic groups warmly bid farewell to General Secretary Xi. "I came to Guangxi for inspection and research immediately after I ended my state visit to Vietnam yesterday," Xi kindly said. Building a strategically significant China-Vietnam community with a shared future will be more conducive to the opening up and development of Guangxi, a beautiful place with a bright future. As an autonomous region with the largest population of ethnic minorities in China, the people of all ethnic groups in Guangxi share the same sky, drink water from the same river, and cultivate their land and build their home together. To build China into a modern socialist country in all respects, not a single ethnic group should be left behind. People from all ethnic groups in a residential community should interact more, help and support each other, make close friends, and live harmoniously as neighbors, thus jointly building a happy home.

On the afternoon of Dec. 14, Xi visited the city of Laibin. At the Huang'an high-quality "double high" sugarcane base in the region's National Modern Agricultural Industrial Park, Xi observed the panorama of sugarcane fields that stretches tens of thousands mu (1 mu is 0.16 acre approximately) and mechanized harvesting, and was briefed on the base's situation. He walked into the sugarcane field, and inquired in detail about the key techniques for breeding high-quality sugarcane varieties, and had a cordial exchange with sugarcane farmers, machine operators, and agricultural technicians. Xi pointed out that Guangxi is the main sucrose area in China, and this advantageous industry should be strengthened and expanded to play a greater role in ensuring the security of national sugar industry and increasing income and wealth for sugarcane farmers. Xi urged the base to actively cultivate and promote high-quality sugarcane varieties, improve the level of mechanized operations, and build a modern agricultural industrial park. The base is urged to explore the establishment of a more stable mechanism for linking interests, so that the majority of farmers can share the achievements of rural reform and development. He wished the farmers a happy life as sweet as sugarcane.

Soon after, Xi visited Laibin Eastern Sugar Phoenix Co., Ltd. He went into the workshop to inspect the sugar making process and operation procedure, and learned about the sugar product types, market share and development trend at the company exhibition hall. He stressed that China's sugar industry is faced with fierce international competition. To meet the requirements of high-end, intelligent, and green development, efforts should be made in boosting sci-tech innovation, extending the industrial chain, enhancing added value, improving quality, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency to promote high-quality development. When leaving the company, he warmly addressed the employees who came to bid farewell, saying that sugar is an important non-staple food, and everyone has worked diligently to bring "sweetness" to thousands of households. He hoped that everyone will continuously learn new technologies, adopt new techniques, and make new contributions to the development of the country's sugar industry.

On the morning of Dec. 15, Xi heard a briefing on the work of the CPC Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Committee and regional government of Guangxi, acknowledging the achievements the region has made in various aspects of its work.

Xi pointed out that to promote Guangxi's high-quality development, it is necessary to focus on strengthening industries and accelerate the building of a modern industrial system. It is essential to leverage the region's resource endowment and industrial foundation, concentrate on advantageous industries, pool superior resources to build several pillar industries that reflect Guangxi's characteristics and advantages, and have larger scale and stronger driving force. It is imperative for the region to place greater emphasis on scientific and technological innovation, deepen the comprehensive reforms in education, science and technology, and the cultivation of talent, promote the integration of scientific and educational innovation with industrial innovation, boost efforts to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, and intensify technological transformation and product upgrade. It is imperative for Guangxi to give full play to its advantage as a coastal region along a river, and make great efforts to develop marine economy and port-centered industries. It is essential to speed up efforts to adjust and improve the industrial structures, promote the green transformation of industries, and boost the development of the forestry sector, the cultural and tourism sector, the elderly care sector and the "big health" sector, so as to keep turning ecological advantages into development impetus.

Xi stressed that Guangxi should constantly expand opening up to the domestic and international markets. It is imperative to strengthen the collaboration between the two markets and build a more dynamic open economy. Xi said that the region should also serve major national strategies, align itself with the new layout of industries across the developed coastal areas, undertake phased relocation of industries in an orderly manner, and speed up efforts to facilitate the development and opening up in the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and the Pearl River-Xijiang River Economic Belt, so as to build itself into an important strategic hinterland of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Xi also called for efforts to jointly build the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, implement a number of major transportation infrastructure projects, build the Pinglu Canal in a high-standard way to ensure it is of high quality, create the Beibu Gulf International Gateway Port in a high level, and ensure that waterway, railway and maritime transportation are more coordinated and automated. Xi called on Guangxi to actively serve the building of a China-ASEAN community with a shared future, expand in-depth cooperation with ASEAN members in sectors such as commerce, labor, industry, science and technology and education, create a hub where both domestic and international markets can operate conveniently, and deeply integrate itself into the development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Xi noted that rural revitalization is a basic project for China's strength in agriculture, and that Guangxi should implement related plans and make solid progress in this regard. The mechanism under which responsibilities for food security should be assigned equally to both Party committees and governments should be fully enforced, and that a balance should be stricken between stabilizing areas of arable land and increasing the output of unit production, so that grain output will be increased in a balanced manner. As a region endowed with resources of forestry, fruits, vegetables, livestock, and sugar, Guangxi is urged to fully exploit these advantages by vigorously promoting the development of distinctive modern agricultural industries to let its brand names of agricultural products resonate nationwide. It is essential to encourage industrial and commercial capital to invest in rural areas, but must make sure at the same time that no arable land is occupied for non-agricultural purposes. It is essential to accelerate the improvement of rural governance, improve rural infrastructure, public services and living environment, and raise the overall appearance of villages and the quality of life for rural residents. Efforts must be made to consolidate and expand what has been achieved in poverty alleviation, and establish a routine assistance mechanism for rural low-income residents, so as to prevent a large number of residents from falling back into poverty.

Xi stressed that Guangxi should focus on forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation in all aspects of its work, and regard it as the fundamental for promoting progress in ethnic solidarity, so as to further consolidate the excellent situation where people of all ethnic groups strive in unity. The continued fostering of a sense of community for the Chinese nation should be carried out in economic work, education, employment, residential community building, cultural development, and training of officials, so that the region will maintain its national lead in making progress in ethnic unity. Guangxi should do its best within its capacity and means to solve issues concerning employment, education, healthcare, housing, elderly care, and childcare, to gradually narrow the gaps between urban and rural areas, between different regions, and between different ethnic groups, and to actively promote common prosperity. Guangxi is urged to consistently boost economy in border areas and raise living standards for residents there in the new era.

Xi pointed out that upholding and strengthening the Party's overall leadership is the fundamental guarantee for doing a good job in all aspects of work. The region is urged to resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, strengthen leadership building, continuously improve officials' moral compass and competency, and motivate Party members and officials to be clean, honest and upright in carrying out their work. As the second round of the theoretical study program is coming to an end, efforts must be intensified to secure its success, and establish a lasting mechanism ensuring that the study strengthens political awareness, promotes intellect, improves conduct, and boost work.

Xi emphasized that at the end of this year and the beginning of another year, Party committees and governments at all levels must do a good job in securing market supply, people's livelihoods, and meticulously oversee workplace safety in production. Work must be done to make sure that wages in arrears for migrant workers be paid, ensuring that the people enjoy a joyful and harmonious holiday. In recent days, moderate to heavy snowfall has occurred in regions such as North China and Yellow and Huaihe river basins, exerting a certain impact on the production and life for the local people. Relevant local authorities and departments should closely monitor the situation, take effective measures, and strive to minimize the impact the disaster has caused.

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied Xi on the inspection tour.

Also on the inspection tour were Wang Yi, Li Ganjie, He Lifeng, Wang Xiaohong, and leading officials from relevant central Party and government departments. Leading officials of the Eleventh Central Steering Group for theoretical study program attended the briefing.

On the morning of Dec. 15, Xi Jinping met with officers at the rank of colonel and above of the troops stationed in Nanning. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, he extended sincere greetings to all officers and soldiers of the troops stationed in Nanning and had a group photo taken with the officers. Zhang Youxia accompanied Xi in the meeting.