Party pledges to safeguard key interests

Leadership to set new security plan for sovereignty, development, other areas

The core leadership of the Communist Party of China pledged resolute steps on Thursday to safeguard the nation's sovereignty, security and development interests, saying that the nation will never back down from issues concerning its core interests and dignity.

The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee made the pledge as it held a meeting to review the National Security Strategy (2021-25). The meeting was presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

Policymakers at the meeting stressed the need to adhere to a holistic approach to national security and accelerate the development of a new security pattern to safeguard national security in the new era.

It is important to uphold the absolute leadership of the Party and improve the centralized, unified, efficient and authoritative leadership mechanism over work related to national security, they said.

They vowed to protect national security and territorial integrity and ensure stability and order at the country's borders and in neighboring areas.

It is important to coordinate the protection of traditional and nontraditional security, follow a path of peaceful development and promote coordination between individual and common security, the policymakers said.

It is imperative that the nation makes political security a top priority and coordinates efforts to ensure security in politics, the economy, society, science and technology and emerging areas, they said.

The meeting highlighted the need for resolutely safeguarding the security of the nation's State power, system and ideology, calling for meticulous efforts to prevent and crack down on infiltration and subversive actions.

It urged steps to bolster the resilience of industries and their capacity to guard against shocks and to establish a sturdy shield to guard against systemic financial risks.

The policymakers reiterated the necessity to ensure grain security, and security in energy, minerals and key infrastructure, adding that the nation must strengthen the protection of its overseas interests.

They underlined the strengthening of self-reliance in science and technology as a strategic pillar in national security and development.

To ensure social security and stability, the policymakers called for steps to prevent and reduce social conflicts, prevent and curb major work safety accidents and enhance the capacity to ensure security in food and pharmaceuticals.

They urged continuous steps to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerated measures to lift governance capacity in biosecurity, as well as to ensure the security of the internet, data and artificial intelligence.

The policymakers proposed a joint, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable approach to global security, calling for heightened security cooperation to ensure global strategic stability and joint response to global challenges.

They also called for across-the-board improvements in national security capacities, with greater emphasis to be given to coordination and efficiency, law-based governance, empowerment by science and technology and support from the grassroots level.

They reviewed a regulation on the honors and awards for the armed forces and a report issued by the national science and technology advisory commission.