During his inspection tour of Guizhou, Xi Jinping emphasized the need to uphold high-quality development as the overarching principle and to showcase Guizhou’s new achievements in the process of Chinese modernization.

Recently, while conducting an inspection tour in Guizhou, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People’s Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, emphasized that Guizhou must earnestly implement the Party Central Committee’s strategic plans for the Great Western Development and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt; uphold high-quality development as the overarching principle guiding all work; harness further comprehensive deepening of reform and opening-up as the driving force; maintain firm confidence and work diligently and pragmatically; pursue progress while ensuring stability; achieve success through sound planning and effective execution; and showcase a new image of Guizhou in the process of Chinese modernization.

From March 17 to 18, Xi Jinping, accompanied by Xu Lin, Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee, and Li Bingjun, Governor of the province, conducted on-site inspections and research in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guiyang City, and other locations.

On the afternoon of the 17th, Xi Jinping visited Zhaoxing Dong Village in Liping County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, to conduct an inspection. At the village entrance, villagers dressed in traditional ethnic attire performed a stirring Dong folk song to welcome the General Secretary. Xi Jinping listened with great interest as they explained the artistic origins, melodic characteristics, and performance styles of the Dong grand song. He then walked along the village paths, observing the village’s architectural features and tourist shops, pausing from time to time to engage in friendly conversations with shopkeepers, tourists, and local residents. At the Dong Cultural Exhibition Center, he gained a detailed understanding of how the Dong people’s history, customs, costumes, architecture, and other distinctive cultural elements are being protected and passed down. At the Dong特色 industrial base, he observed the wax-resist dyeing process and commended the cooperative for its customer-first, quality-first operating philosophy. Xi Jinping emphasized that the cultures of ethnic minorities are an indispensable part of Chinese culture; it is essential both to preserve tangible cultural heritage—such as villages, dwellings, and distinctive architectural styles—and to safeguard intangible cultural heritage, while also promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of these traditions so that ethnic characteristics become even more vibrant through their practical application and continue to shine with renewed brilliance.

At the Xintuan Drum Tower, Xi Jinping sat in close conversation with village officials and representatives of the villagers. Everyone eagerly shared with the General Secretary the encouraging changes that have taken place in the village in recent years. Xi Jinping expressed his great satisfaction at seeing how well the Dong ethnic village has been preserved and how happily the Dong people are living. He emphasized that the key to doing a good job for the people lies in strengthening the building of grassroots Party organizations in rural areas, giving full play to the role of Party branches as strong fortresses and that of Party members as pioneers and models, and leading the masses in developing the economy and improving rural governance.

As Xi Jinping rose from the Drum Tower, villagers eagerly gathered around, breaking into enthusiastic applause and loudly greeting the General Secretary. Xi Jinping responded with pleasure, saying that the Dong people are simple, hardworking, cultured, and wise, and urging them to do an even better job in revitalizing their countryside as China advances along the path of Chinese modernization, while wishing them ever-brighter days ahead. As he departed the Dong village, the Dong community sang “The Dong People’s Songs Sing to the Party” with deep affection, expressing their love for the General Secretary and their reluctance to see him go. Xi Jinping repeatedly waved goodbye to his fellow villagers.

On the morning of the 18th, Xi Jinping listened to a work report from the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee and the Guizhou Provincial Government, commended the achievements made in all areas, and set forth requirements for the next phase of work.

Xi Jinping pointed out that high-quality development is an inherent requirement of Chinese modernization. Guizhou must make a firm commitment and boldly explore new paths, steadfastly taking the real economy as its foundation, strengthening innovation-driven development, coordinating the transition between old and new growth drivers, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, proactively developing strategic emerging industries, and bolstering and optimizing sectors such as the digital economy and new energy. It is essential to maintain resolve and patience, make sound policy decisions, implement targeted measures, strike the right balance between speed and efficiency, and achieve both effective quality improvements and reasonable quantitative growth. At the same time, Guizhou must protect its ecological environment and strive to convert its ecological advantages into developmental advantages.

Xi Jinping emphasized that a region’s development vitality is closely linked to its business environment. Guizhou must actively integrate into the national effort to build a unified, large-scale market, resolutely dismantle local protectionism, market fragmentation, and “involutionary” competition, and create a stable, fair, transparent, and predictable environment for entrepreneurship and innovation across society. To optimize the business environment, we must simultaneously advance reform to remove bottlenecks and obstacles that impede high-quality development, and strengthen the education and management of cadres, guiding them to enhance their awareness of the overall situation, their service orientation, their commitment to integrity, and their dedication to clean governance. Openness is also an important component of the business environment. Guizhou should make full use of the opportunities presented by the development of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, proactively align itself with the construction of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area and the Chengdu–Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle, and actively integrate into the comprehensive opening-up framework that fosters connectivity among land, sea, and inland regions and promotes mutual benefit between the east and west.

Xi Jinping pointed out that Guizhou should proceed from its own realities, steadily advance urbanization with county towns as key platforms, and promote the integrated development of industrial growth, county strengthening, and poverty alleviation. It should build on the industrial foundations of each county, emphasize division of labor and collaboration, pursue differentiated development, and link various sectors into a cohesive value chain. Guizhou should develop modern, mountain-based, specialty, and high-efficiency agriculture tailored to local conditions, and foster leading industries with enduring market competitiveness. It should also improve mechanisms for aligning interests to boost rural incomes and help people become better off through industrial development. For low-income rural populations, a unified monitoring and categorized assistance mechanism should be established to ensure that the basic living needs of the people are fully met.

Xi Jinping emphasized that Guizhou boasts a profound historical heritage, a rich red culture, and a vibrant array of ethnic cultures. It is essential to leverage these strengths to bolster cultural confidence, foster positive social norms through cultural education, and thereby drive economic and social development. Systematic protection must be strengthened for ethnic-featured villages, traditional settlements, and historically and culturally renowned villages and towns, as well as for the red historical sites left from the revolutionary wars. We must steadfastly promote the transformation of outdated customs and practices and actively cultivate new, civilized norms. Furthermore, we should deepen the integration of culture, tourism, and sports, diversify tourism offerings, and create a new “Colorful Guizhou” brand for culture and tourism.

Xi Jinping pointed out that to promote high-quality development, we must unswervingly uphold the leadership of the Party and strengthen Party building. The CPC Central Committee has decided to launch a campaign across the Party to thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the CPC Central Committee’s Eight-Point Decision on Improving Conduct; this is a key task for this year’s Party-building work. Party organizations at all levels must meticulously plan and organize the implementation of this campaign, so as to help Party members and cadres strengthen their resolve and cultivate good habits, thereby rallying hearts and minds and pooling strength to accomplish tasks and start businesses with outstanding conduct. We must simultaneously focus on Party character, Party style, and Party discipline, and ensure that efforts to improve conduct, enforce strict discipline, and combat corruption are closely integrated and sustained without letup in eradicating the conditions and soil that breed corruption. We should carry forward the Long March Spirit and the spirit of the Zunyi Conference, and, with high morale, continue to march along the Long March path of the new era.

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 the inspection.

He Lifeng and leading officials from relevant departments of the CPC Central Committee and State Council accompanied the inspection.