BEIJING - A Communist Party of China (CPC) official on Friday called for more efforts to build China into a socialist country ruled by law.

Meng Jianzhu, chief of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks when addressing the opening ceremony of the 7th congress of the China Law Society (CLS) at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

President Xi Jinping, top legislator Zhang Dejiang and senior official Liu Yunshan also attended the session.

In his address to the congress, Meng expressed greetings to all Chinese legal workers for their contribution to the country, saying that building a socialist country ruled by law is one of the important targets in China's modernization drive.

Meng hailed CLS's achievements in the fields of legal research, legal practice, law publicity and nurturing legal talents under the leadership of the CPC.

He encouraged legal workers to seek innovation in these fields in order to increase their contributions to China's legal construction.

He also asked legal workers to stick to the right direction and offer legal assistance for the country's development.

The new leadership of the China Law Society will be elected during the congress.

The China Law Society was founded in 1949 as a national association of legal scholars, jurists, law practitioners and an academic body for legal sciences.