Xi Jinping Chairs the 19th Collective Study Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and Delivers an Important Speech

On the morning of February 28, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held its 19th collective study session on building a China that is safer and more secure at a higher level. While presiding over the session, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, emphasized that building a China that is safer and more secure at a higher level is vital to the prosperity and development of the cause, to the people’s better life, and to the country’s long-term stability and security. It is imperative to unswervingly implement the Overall National Security Concept, continue to make sustained efforts to ensure greater national security, greater social order, more effective governance, and greater public satisfaction, and thereby elevate the building of a safe and secure China to a higher level.

Comrade Li Yan, Vice President and Professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, delivered a briefing on this issue and put forward relevant recommendations for work. Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee listened carefully to the briefing and engaged in discussion.

After listening to briefings and engaging in discussions, Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. He pointed out that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has continuously improved the leadership system and rule-of-law framework for national security, as well as the strategic and policy frameworks; refined the social governance system; strengthened comprehensive prevention and control of public security; made concerted efforts to elevate the level of public safety governance; and steadfastly safeguarded China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests, thereby successfully writing a new chapter in the “two great miracles” of rapid economic development and long-term social stability. In response to evolving circumstances and tasks, the building of a safe China must be strengthened, not weakened.

Xi Jinping emphasized that the holistic national security concept is a crucial guiding principle for building a China that is safer and more secure at a higher level, and must be unswervingly implemented. Party committees and governments at all levels must adopt systems thinking, further uphold the principle that development is the paramount imperative and that security is equally paramount, and consciously integrate development and security in their work—planning them jointly, deploying them in a coordinated manner, and ensuring that they reinforce one another. It is essential to maintain a nationwide unified approach and concerted efforts across all levels, so that by ensuring security in every locality, region, and sector, we create the conditions for overall national security; and by promptly and effectively addressing each individual security issue, we lay a solid foundation for the country’s enduring stability and long-term peace.

Xi Jinping pointed out that the building of a safe China is for the people and relies on the people. We must continuously enhance people’s wellbeing, steadily advance common prosperity, effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people, and uphold social fairness and justice. We need to improve the social governance system, refine the mechanisms and institutions for social work, and build a community of social governance in which everyone shares responsibility, fulfills their duties, and enjoys the benefits. We should foster a social mentality characterized by self-respect, self-confidence, rationality, composure, and positivity, and promote a new ethos of the times marked by pioneering spirit, dedication, respect for the rule of law, and civility and courtesy.

Xi Jinping emphasized that preventing and defusing all types of risks is a crucial task in building a safe China. Safeguarding national political security must be given top priority, with unwavering commitment to protecting the security of the state’s political regime, its institutional framework, and its ideological orientation. It is necessary to improve the public safety system, shift the public safety governance model toward proactive prevention, and strengthen efforts in disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief; workplace safety; food and drug safety; cybersecurity; and artificial intelligence safety. Particular attention should be paid to guarding against risks in key areas.

Xi Jinping pointed out that to build a China that is even safer and more secure, we must strengthen comprehensive prevention and control of public security. We need to integrate targeted governance with systemic, law-based, comprehensive, and root-cause-based approaches; expand and enhance community-based prevention and governance forces; and erect an impregnable barrier of safety. We must uphold and develop the “Fengqiao Experience” for the new era, advance the rule of law in handling letters and visits from the public, and promptly and effectively resolve all kinds of conflicts and disputes.

Xi Jinping emphasized that the leadership of the Party is the fundamental guarantee for building a safe China. It is essential to unswervingly uphold the absolute leadership of the CPC Central Committee over national security work and political and legal work, and to give full play to the leading role of Party committees at all levels in overall planning and coordinating all parties in the endeavor to build a safe China. We must strengthen positive publicity and public opinion guidance, and make greater use of modern technological means to enhance the effectiveness of social governance. Moreover, we must forge a new-era iron army of political and legal personnel who are loyal, clean, and capable of shouldering responsibilities.