Episode Details

President Xi Jinping has called for enhancing inclusive and fundamental livelihood initiatives, as China prioritizes addressing pressing public concerns as part of a broader effort to advance the high-quality development of civil affairs work.

The directives from Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, were conveyed to participants at the 15th National Civil Affairs Conference, held in Beijing on Friday and Saturday.

Lauding the new progress achieved in all aspects of civil affairs in recent years, Xi emphasized the paramount importance of the people's well-being in China's modernization drive. He also urged Party committees and governments at all levels to adopt a people-centered approach in resolving the most practical problems that are of the greatest and most direct concern to the people.

In addition, he called for more efforts to implement a proactive national strategy to address issues of aging, and to improve work in social assistance, social welfare, social affairs and social governance.

Xi also emphasized the need for civil affairs departments to take the initiative in enhancing benefits for the people, meeting their needs and helping them overcome difficulties.

While addressing the conference, Premier Li Qiang said that advancing Chinese modernization requires a continuous enhancement of civil affairs work. This includes effectively safeguarding and promoting the interests of various groups, such as disadvantaged populations and individuals with disabilities.

At the 20th National Congress of the CPC in 2022, the Party reaffirmed its commitment to achieving basic socialist modernization by 2035 and building China by midcentury into a modern nation that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful, via the Chinese path to modernization.

The endeavor to modernize China, a nation of 1.4 billion people, presents a unique challenge that no other industrialized nation has ever faced, and civil affairs work will play a crucial role in this drive toward modernization, experts said.

Such work encompasses a range of services, including child welfare, elderly care, social welfare, social assistance, marriage registration, charitable programs and funeral arrangements.