As Xi inspected China's more affluent eastern regions, he voiced earnest expectations for them to lead in modernizing the nation and pave the way for high-quality growth.

During a trip to Shanghai from Nov 28 to Dec 2, he called for the Yangtze River Delta, which comprises Shanghai and Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, to better lead the nation on the path to modernization.

He highlighted the significance of integrated development in the region, one of China's major industrial powerhouses, to further enhance its innovation capabilities, industrial competitiveness, development levels, and lead the way in forming a new pattern of higher-level reform and opening-up for China.

While traveling to Heilongjiang province in September, Xi said pushing forward the Chinese path to modernization would require the northeastern region to enhance its role as a strategic pillar.

The northeast, although confronted by population outflows and slowdowns in economic growth in recent years, has remained a key region for ensuring the nation's food security. In 2022, the three northeastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang accounted for more than 20 percent of China's total food production.

Xi laid out requirements for the northeast to press ahead with industrial innovation through innovation in science and technology, stressing that the foundation for the region's revitalization lies in the real economy.

Common prosperity

The president showed particular concern for public well-being during his fact-finding trips, as he twice visited groups hit hard by natural disasters to reassure them of the government's commitment to providing relief.

"I always keep disaster-affected people in my thoughts," he told households struck by summer floods in Heilongjiang.

To help families get through the long and arduous winters in the northeast, Xi reiterated the need for the authorities to adopt meticulous measures to ensure access to food, drinking water, housing, transportation, jobs and education.

In November, he inspected regions hit by summer floods and geological disasters in Beijing and neighboring Hebei province, before the arrival of winter in northern China.