BEIJING: As he began his unprecedented 3rd five-year term as President and head of the military, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called for upholding the leadership of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) headed by him.
Speaking at the closure of the annual session of the Chinese legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), Xi stressed upholding the leadership of the CPC and the centralised, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, the main policy body of the party.
Xi, 69, is regarded as the "core leader" of the party very much like the party founder Mao Zedong was endorsed by the rubber-stamp Parliament last week as the President and head of the Central Military Commission (CMC) the high command of the Chinese military.
He was elected as the head of the CPC for an unprecedented third term in October last year, the only leader to have more than two five-year terms after Mao.
He was the only leader to have a third five-year term while all his predecessors retired after two five-year terms.
In his winding-up speech at the NPC closing ceremony attended by about 3,000 legislators, Xi said it is important to stay alert and determined to tackle the special challenges that a large party like the CPC faces.
He underlined the importance of always having the courage to carry out self-reform, conducting full and rigorous Party self-governance unceasingly, and fighting corruption resolutely, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Efforts are needed to always maintain the Party's solidarity and unity, and ensure that the CPC will never change its nature, its conviction, or its character, so as to provide a firm guarantee for building China into a great modern socialist country and realising national rejuvenation, he added.