BEIJING -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held its 18th group study session on the afternoon of Dec 9, focusing on the governance of China's border areas in history. While presiding over the session, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, stressed that modernizing the system and capacity for governance in border areas is an integral part of Chinese modernization. It is imperative to earnestly implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee, and the CPC Central Committee's decisions and plans regarding border governance, enhance governance in border areas, and boost high-quality development in border areas.

Li Guoqiang, a member of the Academic Divisions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and deputy director of the Chinese Academy of History under the CASS, gave a lecture on this issue and put forward suggestions. Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee listened attentively to the lecture and held discussions.

Xi delivered an important speech after listening to the lecture and discussions. He pointed out that since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee, keeping in mind the overall picture for the governance of the country, has proposed a series of important propositions and major measures such as "to govern the country well we must first govern the frontiers well," "vigorously boosting development in border areas and improving the living standards and maintaining stability and security," upheld and improved the coordinated regional development strategy and major regional strategies, accelerated the high-quality development of border areas, pushed the border areas to work with the rest of the country to win the battle against absolute poverty, built a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and embarked on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. Historic achievements and changes have been made in border governance.

Xi emphasized the need to uphold the CPC's overall leadership in all aspects and throughout the entire process of governance in border areas. It is imperative to strengthen strategic planning and coordination, and integrate border governance into all aspects of development initiatives. Relevant departments should fulfill their responsibilities and work together to generate greater synergy, and Party organizations at all levels in border areas should consistently align with the guiding principles of the CPC Central Committee and ensure that these principles are reflected in the formulation and implementation of their plans, regulations, policies and projects.

Xi said that in the course of advancing Chinese modernization, no border areas should be left behind. The development of border areas should be integrated into the overall strategy of Chinese modernization, the coordinated regional development strategy and major regional strategies. The new development philosophy should be comprehensively and accurately implemented, and border areas should be supported to achieve high-quality development by leveraging their own conditions and advantages to integrate themselves into the new development pattern and the unified national market. He urged border areas to increase the momentum and vitality of development through reform and opening up, take advantage of their coastal and frontier locations to build themselves into pacesetters for opening up, and form a new pattern of all-round opening up that coordinates the coastal and inland areas and connects the eastern and western regions. Integrated development of urban and rural areas should be pursued, new urbanization that is centered on county seats should be steadily pushed forward, all-round rural revitalization should be promoted, and the achievements in poverty alleviation should be consolidated and expanded to forestall any large-scale relapse into poverty. People's livelihood should be safeguarded and improved through development, the working and living conditions in border areas should be continuously improved, and the weaknesses in infrastructure and basic public services should be addressed at a quicker pace.

Xi stressed the need to forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation regarding the work for border areas with large ethnic minority populations, extensively promote core socialist values, and guide people of all ethnic minority groups in border areas to strengthen their sense of identity with the great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the CPC, and socialism with Chinese characteristics, thereby constructing a shared spiritual home for all Chinese people. The system of regional ethnic autonomy should be upheld and improved, while the legitimate rights and interests of all ethnic minority groups should be safeguarded. Standard spoken and written Chinese should be comprehensively promoted, with unified state-compiled textbooks widely applied. Initiatives to foster ethnic unity and progress should be advanced, while an integrated social structure and community environment should be vigorously constructed to ensure all ethnic minority groups are closely united like the seeds of a pomegranate that stick together.

Xi underscored the importance of safeguarding national security and social stability, noting that this is a bottom-line requirement for border area governance. The social governance system based on collaboration, participation, and shared benefits should be improved, with a more consolidated foundation and elevated governance efficiency in border areas. Efforts should be made to advance infrastructure construction, and raise the overall capability to guard the border and defend the country through intensified technology empowerment.

Xi emphasized the need for theoretical support in advancing border area governance. Multi-disciplinary research on border area history and governance should be furthered, and the construction of China's indigenous intellectual system for border area studies should be accelerated. The research on significant theoretical and practical issues of border area governance should be deepened, and more influential and convincing research outcomes should be produced. The results of border area research should be applied to better present the stories of China's border governance in the new era. A team of border area governance researchers featuring a firm political stance, a thorough understanding and good command of theories and all-around capabilities should be nurtured.