Authorities have launched a crackdown against dissidents after a letter calling for President Xi Jinping's resignation surfaced online. (Photo : Getty Images)
"We should protect the environment like protecting our eyes and treat the environment the way we treat our lives."
This is what Chinese President Xi Jinping remarked during the annual session of the National People's Congress held on March 10 in the northwestern province of Qinghai, Shanghai Daily reported.
Joining a team of national lawmakers, Xi called for intensified environmental protection, as well as enhanced poverty-alleviation projects and ethnic region development.
The Chinese leader urged authorities to have a "long-term view on environmental protection and promote green lifestyles."
Xi also emphasized that officials must work hand in hand to help improve the lives of people living in poverty, as well as those who reside in China's rural areas. He particularly noted that this must be accomplished by 2020, the end of the country's 13th Five-Year Plan.
The president further remarked the importance of education, a key in ensuring that people will not return to poverty.
Xi said that the government will also give more attention to regional development by improving infrastructure and enhancing competitive industries fused with local characteristics.
Xi added that ethnicity and culture should be respected and not neglected.
On the same occasion, Premier Li Keqiang also called for "all-out efforts to maintain ethnic unity and long-term stability through development in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region," Shanghai Daily reported.
Li emphasized that the region is of strategic importance to China, adding that its local government should advance development to optimize the area's resources.
The premier noted that the central government will be providing greater support to assist Xinjiang in its growth, specifically in the area of infrastructure.
Li also urged Xinjiang authorities to maintain ethnic solidarity as it is the "lifeline" of a peaceful and stable community. He also asked the officials to offer better employment as well as education and social insurance services.
