President Xi Jinping has stressed consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation and unswervingly taking the correct approaches with Chinese characteristics to handling ethnic affairs when addressing the central conference on ethnic affairs.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for promoting high-quality development of the Party's work on ethnic affairs in the new era.

The conference, held in Beijing on Friday and Saturday, was presided over by Li Keqiang, and attended by Li Zhanshu, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng, while Wang Yang made concluding remarks.

IMPORTANT THOUGHTS

In his speech, Xi summarized the formation of the Party's important thoughts on strengthening and improving ethnic work since the reform and opening-up, especially after the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012.

The historical position of the Party's ethnic work in the new era must be understood from the strategic perspective of national rejuvenation, Xi said.

Guiding all ethnic groups to jointly strive for fully building a modern socialist country must be taken as a crucial task of CPC's ethnic work in the new era, Xi noted.

Forging the sense of community for the Chinese nation must be the focus of CPC's ethnic work in the new era, he said, adding that the right perspective of the Chinese nation's history must be upheld, and the sense of national identity and pride must be boosted.

All ethnic groups must be equal; the banner of the unity of the Chinese nation must be held high, he said.

The system of regional ethnic autonomy must be upheld and improved, and the implementation of the CPC Central Committee's policies and decisions as well as China's laws and regulations must be guaranteed, he stressed.

The sense of belonging for the Chinese nation must be established; extensive exchanges, communication and integration of various ethnic groups must be promoted, according to Xi.

Ethnic affairs must be governed in accordance with the law; national sovereignty, security and development interests must be resolutely safeguarded, Xi said.

The CPC's leadership over ethnic work must be upheld, he stressed.

SENSE OF COMMUNITY

Fostering a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, Xi said, is a critical element of safeguarding the fundamental interests of all ethnic groups.

Only through fostering a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and all ethnic groups jointly safeguarding national security and social stability, can the infiltration and subversion of extremist and separatist thoughts be resisted and the aspiration of the people of all ethnic groups for a better life be fulfilled, Xi said.

Only in doing so can powerful ideological guarantees be provided for the prosperity and enduring stability of the Party and the country, he said, urging efforts to forge a community with a shared future for the Chinese nation with a higher sense of national identity and a stronger bond of attachment among the people.

All ethnic groups should be guided to always place the interests of the Chinese nation above anything else, with their consciousness of different ethnic groups serving the sense of community for the Chinese nation as a whole, Xi said.

Efforts should be made to see that the interests of all ethnic groups are realized in the process of the realization of the overall interests of the Chinese nation, Xi said.

Neither Han chauvinism nor local ethnic chauvinism is conducive to the development of a community for the Chinese nation, he stressed.

Xi called for promoting the use of standard spoken and written Chinese, protecting the spoken and written languages of all ethnic groups, and respecting and protecting the learning and use of spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities.

Xi underscored the need to facilitate the march of all ethnic groups toward socialist modernization.

He also stressed encouraging exchanges and interactions among different ethnic groups.

PREVENTING HIDDEN DANGERS

Xi stressed improving the modernization of China's governance system and capacity on ethnic affairs, calling for more efforts to resolutely prevent grave risks and hidden dangers in this field.

Ethnic separatism and religious extremism should be continuously eliminated, Xi said, highlighting the need to strengthen international anti-terrorism cooperation.

Xi also said that strengthening and improving the CPC's overall leadership is the fundamental political guarantee for the Party's work on ethnic affairs in the new era.

When presiding over the meeting, Li Keqiang said that Xi's speech established the guiding principle, strategic goals, major tasks, as well as policies and measures for high-quality development of the Party's work on ethnic affairs centering on the sense of community for the Chinese nation.

In his concluding remarks, Wang Yang said that Xi's speech is the latest summary of the practice of the Party's work on ethnic affairs and the latest achievement in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.