President Xi Jinping has stressed the importance of ethnic unity among all Chinese people, and called for all ethnic groups in the country to consolidate their sense of community for the Chinese nation.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on Saturday when taking part in discussions with fellow deputies of the Inner Mongolia delegation. Xi was elected by the People's Congress of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to be a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress in January 2018.

Ethnic unity is the lifeline for the people of all ethnic groups, Xi said, and the sense of the community for the Chinese nation is key to realizing ethnic unity.

He underscored the need for all ethnic groups in the big Chinese family to remain closely stuck together like the seeds of a pomegranate, and called for them to work together to build a great country and strive for better lives.

As such, he added, people will live in an environment where they can enjoy healthy and steady economic growth, sustained peace and social stability, and a clean and upright political life.

Noting that China is a multi-ethnic country, Xi said, only if ethnic unity and harmony are maintained and promoted, can the nation become prosperous, the society stable and the people happy.

Inner Mongolia, as one of the ethnic autonomous regions in a border area, bears major responsibility for safeguarding ethnic unity and border security, he stressed.

Xi urged the officials of the region to strengthen their awareness of the risks, raise their capability for strategic thinking, and take effective measures to guard against various dangers and risks to ensure the security of the country's northern border.

He also called on the region to coordinate its response to the COVID-19 pandemic with socioeconomic development, and underscored the need to pursue a path of high-quality green development that puts ecological conservation first, and said it should take concrete steps to shoulder its political responsibility to bolster the nation's security in ecology, energy, food and industrial development.

Seven deputies from Inner Mongolia delivered speeches during the meeting on issues such as implementation of the new development philosophy, grassland ecological protection, rural vitalization, ethnic unity and education, and efforts to realize the country's carbon emissions peak and carbon neutrality goals.

During the discussions, Xi also stressed the importance of overall leadership of the Party in upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, which, he said, is the only way the country can realize the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Noting unity and hard work will help the Chinese people to achieve this historic undertaking, Xi said implementing the new development philosophy will make the country grow more prosperous.

On Saturday afternoon, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng, who are all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, as well as Vice-President Wang Qishan took part in meetings with the delegations of the regions that elected them to the NPC.