Xi urges party to get five-year plan off to good start

President Xi Jinping has asked senior Communist Party of China officials to ensure that the country's 15th Five-Year Plan, which began in January, gets off to a good start. He made the remarks after reading through the annual work reports of senior party officials recently submitted to the CPC central committee and to him. The officials included members of the political bureau and the secretariat of the CPC central committee, and members of the leading party members groups from the standing committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council and the national committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as well as secretaries of the leading party members groups of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. Xi called on the officials to keep in alignment with the central party leadership in thinking, political stance and action at all times and to take concrete steps to ensure that its decisions and plans are fully implemented. Officials should take the initiative in taking on responsibilities within the scope of their respective duties, and strictly implement the central party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct along with the detailed rules for its implementation, he said. They were urged to take the lead in establishing and practicing a correct view on governance performance, and strive to deliver tangible achievements for the people through solid and dedicated work. Efforts should be made to foster a clean and upright political environment, Xi said. (Xinhua) Edited by Thomas McAlinden