Xi urges opening new ground for development during inspection tour in Yunnan

China

Xi urges opening new ground for development during inspection tour in Yunnan

2025-03-20 20:37 Last Updated At：03-21 18:17

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on southwest China's Yunnan Province to break new ground for its development in pursuit of Chinese modernization.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection tour in the province from Wednesday to Thursday.

During the inspection tour, Xi visited the provincial capital Kunming, where he heard the provincial authorities' work report on Thursday.

Xi emphasized that promoting industrial transformation and upgrading is essential for high-quality development, calling on Yunnan to strengthen, optimize and expand its resource-based industries through scientific and technological innovation, while proactively developing future industries and emerging strategic industries.

He urged the province to accelerate the development of the cultural and tourism industries and the distinctive agriculture unique to plateau areas.

Yunnan should leverage its strategic location to enhance high-standard opening up and establish itself as a key gateway to South and Southeast Asia, Xi stressed.

He called on the province to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with neighboring countries in areas such as economy, science and technology, talent development, health and culture to generate tangible benefits in high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Highlighting Yunnan's significant role in ecology, Xi urged the province to serve as an ecological security barrier in southwest China, while emphasizing the importance of enhancing governance to ensure ethnic unity and stability in this border region with diverse ethnic groups.

Stressing that the Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for the advancement of all endeavors, he called on officials at all levels to fulfill their responsibilities in Party self-governance, and to take exemplary actions in improving the political environment within the Party.

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied Xi on the inspection tour.

On Thursday, Xi met with senior officers and representatives of the soldiers and civilian staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army troops stationed in Kunming.

China’s 2026 consumption season fuels holiday shopping boom nationwide

Cities across China have come to life with a surge of holiday shoppers, as consumption-boosting policies drive demand and lift confidence ahead of the Spring Festival.

The 2026 "Shopping in China" and Spring Festival Consumption Season was launched early this month, aiming to fuel a consumption boom through measures targeting goods, services, and diverse spending scenarios.

In downtown Xiamen City of east China's Fujian Province, a distinctive shopping district built on an old factory has become a popular new tourist attraction. It has introduced nearly 40 high-quality brands covering retail, entertainment, sports, and other fields, attracting a large number of citizens and tourists.

In north China's Tianjin Municipality, a newly built market space integrates cultural and creative product exhibitions, catering, leisure, and nearly 100 cultural performances, becoming a new choice for citizens and tourists during holidays. The city launched a three-month Spring Festival consumption season, creating a number of new consumption formats, models, and scenarios, such as exhibitions and ice and snow activities, to unleash consumption vitality.

In Liaoyang city, northeast China's Liaoning Province, an 80-hectare indoor temperature-controlled greenhouse garden brought a new cultural tourism format different from its iconic ice and snow season. Here, tourists can not only enjoy flowers and scenery but also buy local specialty agricultural products and watch Yangko dance performances.

This year, the eastern Chinese province of Anhui launched the 2026 Spring Festival consumption season for new energy vehicles (NEVs), reducing the cost of car purchases by issuing consumption vouchers together with trade-in subsidies.

In 2025, Anhui ranked first in the country in terms of automobile and NEV production, and maintained its leading position nationwide in vehicle exports which surpassed the one-million mark.

This year's Spring Festival begins on February 17, and heralds the Year of the Horse.