Opportunities amid challenges

While hearing work reports made by Zhejiang provincial committee of the CPC and provincial government Wednesday, Xi said the epidemic situation in China is moving steadily in a positive direction, and the peak of the current COVID-19 outbreak is over in the country.

The risk posed by imported cases, however, has sharply risen as the pandemic is accelerating its spread across the world, said Xi, stressing intensified management of asymptomatic virus cases in China.

China will make preventing imported cases the top priority in its COVID-19 response at present and even for a "prolonged" period of time, he said.

Though the increasingly fast spread of COVID-19 abroad has disrupted international economic and trade activities and brought new challenges to China's economic development, it has also provided fresh opportunities for expediting the country's development in science and technology and advancing industrial upgrading, Xi noted.

More efforts should be made to accelerate and further expand work and production resumption in an orderly manner on the premise of strictly implementing COVID-19 control measures, he said.

Xi called for efforts to smooth global supply chains to ensure normal economic and trade activities.

While seizing the opportunities of industrial digitization and digital industrialization, China also needs to expedite the construction of "new infrastructure" projects such as 5G networks and data centers, and deploy strategic emerging sectors and industries of the future including digital economy, life health services and new materials, he said.

Xi also stressed the importance of expanding reform of important areas and key links.

Efforts must be made to improve the mechanism for major epidemic prevention and control and the public health emergency response and management system, said Xi, stressing carrying out extensive patriotic health campaigns.

He called for putting in place sound systems and policies for promoting integrated urban-rural development, and speeding up the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

Xi demanded efforts to guarantee an adequate supply of food with stable prices for urban residents and ensure sufficient income for rural people.

Calling the anti-virus fight a "test" for governance over the Party, Xi urged better Party building work at all levels.