(Xinhua/Yan Yan)
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited grassroots cadres and residents in Beijing during his two-day inspection visit Monday and Tuesday, extending Spring Festival greetings to Chinese living at home and abroad as the holiday approaches.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, wished them good health, successful careers and family happiness. He also wished peace and prosperity to the country for the year of the Horse.
The Spring Festival, also called Chinese New Year, which falls on February 17 this year, is the most important traditional holiday for Chinese people.
On Monday morning, Xi visited a national information technology innovation park in Beijing E-Town, where he witnessed the presentation of scientific and technological achievements in fields such as artificial intelligence and robotics, and held discussions with technology researchers and business leaders.
Xi said he was “even more confident” in the country’s scientific and technological innovation after seeing what was presented to him during the visit.
He stressed that scientific and technological autonomy and power are the “key” to China’s efforts to build a major modern socialist country, and urged the Chinese capital to take advantage of its unique strengths to make greater contributions in this regard.
On Tuesday morning, Xi visited a neighborhood in downtown Beijing that has been renovated to be accessible to people with reduced mobility and friendly to the elderly. He visited a community canteen for the elderly to find out about the catering services offered there.
“Caring for and supporting the elderly is a shared responsibility of the whole society,” Xi said, calling for efforts to create better conditions for them to enjoy a happy and fulfilling old age.
In Xicheng District, Xi also visited an apartment complex for the elderly, where he spent time with the elderly, wishing them good health, longevity and a happy Spring Festival.
At the Longfusi commercial zone in Dongcheng District, Xi was briefed on urban renewal efforts in the area. He stopped at a Daoxiangcun shop, a traditional bakery brand, where he observed pastries being made.
At a Spring Festival market, he visited various stalls selling festive goods and chatted with the people present, sharing his memories of his visits to the area when he was young. He also purchased culinary specialties and cultural products.
Xi said he was very happy to see the excitement and dynamism there, as well as the wide variety of festive products on offer.
“The Spring Festival is an important event for the people,” Xi said, urging officials at all levels to make concrete efforts to ensure people’s well-being and strengthen workplace safety, so that everyone can fully enjoy a Chinese New Year.
During his trip, Xi listened to a work report presented by Beijing municipal authorities and endorsed the progress made by the city in all fields.
Calling the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) crucial for China’s efforts to fundamentally realize socialist modernization, Xi said Beijing must lead by example and ensure “decisive progress” is made.
He asked the Chinese capital to seize the opportunity provided by the expansion of the Beijing International Science and Technology Innovation Center (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region) to strengthen its innovation coordination and industrial cooperation with Tianjin and Hebei.
Xi also asked Beijing to actively develop the modern service sector and go further in comprehensively deepening reform and expanding institutional opening-up, so as to create experience that can be applied elsewhere in the country.
Xi said that as Beijing strives to become a world-class, harmonious and livable city, it must advance urban governance to the highest standards.
Xi demanded that efforts be made to further exercise the Party’s comprehensive and rigorous self-governance by adopting higher standards and more concrete measures. He also demanded that civil servants further strengthen their capacity to advance modernization.
Cai Qi, 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, and other senior officials accompanied Xi on his inspection tour.
(Xinhua/Feng Yongbin)
