Xi stresses firm confidence in high-quality development during Henan inspection tour

ZHENGZHOU -- President Xi Jinping has underscored unwavering confidence in boosting high-quality development and enhancing governance efficiency, while urging Central China's Henan province to write a new chapter in advancing Chinese modernization.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection tour of the cities of Luoyang and Zhengzhou in the province on Monday and Tuesday.

He emphasized that Henan should focus on building a modern industrial system and strengthening its agricultural capacity, improving people's well-being and social governance, enhancing ecological and environmental protection, and promoting cultural prosperity.

On Monday afternoon, Xi visited Luoyang Bearing Group Co Ltd. Its predecessor was a factory established during China's inaugural five-year plan period (1953-1957). The five-year plan laid the industrial foundation via concentrated efforts to build New China's first steel production base and first auto manufacturer.

It is imperative to maintain a robust and reasonable share of the manufacturing, a key pillar of the national economy, in the process of advancing Chinese modernization, Xi said.

"Modern manufacturing relies on sci-tech empowerment," Xi said, while calling for greater efforts in the quest for core technological breakthroughs and pursuit of a path of independent innovation.

Xi then visited the White Horse Temple, originally built during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), where he learned about the adaptation of Buddhism to the Chinese context and local efforts to preserve cultural relics.

At the Longmen Grottoes, an over 1,500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site which also represents the pinnacle of Chinese stone carving art, Xi underlined the importance of preserving, inheriting and promoting these treasures of Chinese culture.

The integration of culture and tourism holds great potential, Xi said, requiring efforts to promote the high-quality development of the sector and turn it into a pillar industry that benefits the people and enriches their lives.