Xi calls for people-centric reform measures, stresses employment

President Xi Jinping has urged Party and government officials to work out people-centric reform measures, while warning that there will be "many hardships" ahead for China's reform drive.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks while he was in east China's Anhui Province on an inspection tour to oversee measures to implement the 2016-2020 national development plan. The tour ran from April 24 to 27.

During the inspection Xi visited villages to see firsthand how poverty relief measures were helping the people, and an elite university with specialty in science and technology research -- one of the government's priority areas for development over the next five years.

Acknowledging the less-than ideal global economic environment, Xi said the country's bottom-line responsibility is to ensure the people's livelihood, and reform should start with the issues the public feel most strongly about.

"As supply-side structural reform deepens, there will be job losses," Xi said. "Employment should be one of our priorities; we need to create more jobs, and implement and improve assistance measures."

To this end, he said, both businesses and the public welfare sector should create more job opportunities, and government policies should be designed to help job seekers.

The president called on local governments to design their development plans around the people's needs, bearing in mind local supply and demand, which would improve product quality and services, as well as support the emergence of new industries.

RED GENES

On Sunday, Xi visited Jinzhai County in Lu'an City on the Dabieshan Mountain; one of the birthplaces of the people's armed forces and the Chinese Revolution.

He laid a wreath on a monument memorizing those who had fallen in the revolution, and visited a memorial hall for the Red Army and a museum for the revolution. He took this opportunity to underscore the need to pass on the spirit of the "red country" to future generations.

China's revolutionary traditions should be learned from childhood, he said. China's children should have "red genes in their blood and hearts", and education in this regard should guide their values.

POVERTY RELIEF IN FINAL STAGE

When he was in Dawan Village of Huashi Township on Sunday afternoon, Xi visited the homes of some poor residents, and asked the families how poverty relief measures had helped them.

Local officials briefed the president on poverty relief projects, such as tea gardens, fish ponds and small photovoltaic power plants. Xi inquired about production costs and benefits, and discussed with villagers when they can get rid of poverty.

Poverty alleviation is at the final but most-difficult stage, Xi told villagers, assuring them that this stage will feature precise poverty relief projects and measures.

On Monday, Xi visited Xiaogang Village in Fengyang County, which was taken as the origin of China's reform and opening up.

In 1978, some farmers in Xiaogang Village secretly signed an agreement to divide their People's Commune farmland into family plots -- an ingenious idea, albeit illegal at that time. Each plot was to be worked by a family. Their crops were then divided between the government, the collective and the families themselves.

This process resulted in bumper grain production and the initiative was soon rolled out across the country.

As a major producer of grain, Anhui has made great contribution to the country's grain security, the president said, adding the province's output can be further improved if farmers upgrade agricultural technology to raise grain production efficiency.

Xi visited the homes of Wu Guangli and Yan Jinchang, two of the men who 37 years ago led a new, innovative approach to farming. The president was delighted to see that their spacious new houses have tap water and broadband Internet, and their community has public services.

"The great change in Xiaogang Village is an epitome of China's reform and opening up," Xi told villagers. "This proves that reform is the way out."

INNOVATION KEY TO DEVELOPMENT

On Tuesday, Xi visited the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, one of the country's top institutions of higher learning.

He saw projects that explored intelligent voice applications, robotics,equipment manufacturing, new materials, biological medicine, drone, smart new energy and new energy vehicles. He visited the department of modern physics and talked with students and the faculty.

Xi urged the university to "dare to innovate" and cultivate the next generation of talent.

"You are the future and the hope of the nation," Xi told the students, reminding them to draw inspiration from China's leading scientists.

PARTY CONSTITUTION STUDY

The president also highlighted a new education campaign, which focuses on the study of the CPC Constitution and code of conduct.

"The Constitution serves as the overall basis for the management of the whole Party as well as the general rules for all Party members to live and work by," Xi said, urging both ordinary Party members and senior officials to prioritize the study and following of it.

Xi said that CPC members should think deeply about "which stipulations in the Party Constitution that they haven't lived up to and how to improve themselves."

During the inspection, Xi also met with military officers stationed in Anhui.