Xi asks officials to enhance governance, prioritise national security

Chinese President Xi Jinping has directed officials to enhance the governance and high-quality development in the country's border areas prioritising national security and social stability.

It is essential to prioritise national security and social stability as the bottom-line requirement for governance in border areas, Xi said while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China on Monday.

He said it is essential to uphold the party's overall leadership in all aspects and throughout the entire governance process in border areas.

"No border area shall be left behind in advancing Chinese modernisation," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency Tuesday.

In recent years, China has been focussing on the development of border areas in Tibet along India and Bhutan borders by establishing hundreds of well-developed villages.

Tibet had built more than 600 well-off, high-standard border villages, with accessible roads, according to recent official media reports.

The main power grid is extended to all border towns as well as postal services, mobile communication networks, and safe drinking water.

At Monday's meeting, Xi also highlighted the necessity of comprehensively promoting standard spoken and written Chinese and the use of unified state-compiled textbooks.

He also called for accelerating the development of an independent Chinese knowledge system for borderland studies, and deepening research into major theoretical and practical issues related to governance in border areas, the Xinhua reported.