BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping on Saturday stressed ethnic unity and efforts to forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation at the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature.

Joining deliberation with fellow lawmakers from Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed that ethnic unity is the lifeline of all ethnic groups in the country.

Xi himself is a member of the delegation of lawmakers from the autonomous region in North China. It is the fifth consecutive year that Xi has joined deliberations with the delegation during the "two sessions."

His interactions with fellow lawmakers and remarks have injected impetus into the grassland region's pursuit of ethnic unity, ecological security, and high-quality development.

FOSTERING SENSE OF COMMUNITY FOR CHINESE NATION

Ethnic unity is one of the major topics that Xi has repeatedly stressed when he joined deliberations with Inner Mongolia lawmakers over the past five years.

Noting that a strong sense of community is key to ethnic unity, Xi said efforts must be made to strengthen such sense by furthering education on ethnic unity.

"It is our common responsibility to maintain ethnic unity," Narengtuya, an NPC deputy from Bayannur city, Inner Mongolia, said in response to Xi's remarks.

Every year, Narengtuya, a primary school teacher, would go to schools and enterprises to share with locals her thoughts on ethnic unity, such as the importance of learning and using of Mandarin Chinese.

Ethnic unity and harmony has been an important feature of Inner Mongolia. Xiaomiaozi village in Chifeng city in the east of the region has residents of different ethnic groups, such as Mongolian, Manchu and Han.

"We show great respect for the customs of each other in daily life," said Zhao Huijie, Party chief of the village and a member of the delegation.

"China is a unified nation of many ethnic groups. Only when all ethnic groups live in unity and harmony can there be a prosperous country, a stable society and a happy people," Xi said during Saturday's deliberation.

ECOLOGICAL SECURITY

Xi has paid high attention to ecological protection and called on Inner Mongolia to build a "Green Great Wall."

In his deliberation during the annual "two sessions" in 2018, Xi told fellow lawmakers from Inner Mongolia to strengthen the protection of forests and wetlands, make more efforts to fight desertification and pollution, and build the "Green Great Wall" in the northern border of the motherland.

In the joint deliberation on Saturday, he stressed again the ecological protection drive, calling on the region to unswervingly follow the path of high-quality development that prioritizes ecological conservation and pursues green development.

"We have had enough rainfall in the last two years, and the grass is growing very well," said Wang Xiaohong, an NPC deputy from Tongliao city in the region. "The beautiful view with herds of sheep in the vast grassland under the blue sky has made us more determined to protect the environment."

Last year, Inner Mongolia planted 1.11 million hectares of grass, and the region will green over 733,300 hectares of land with grass this year to beef up its afforestation efforts.

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

Xi has also stressed rural revitalization during his interactions with lawmakers from the region.

Over the past years, Zhang Jixin, an NPC deputy and Party secretary of Zhongnanqu village, Bayannur city, has made full use of the village's land and labor resources to develop the cattle industry, which has helped alleviate poverty and increase the income of over 3,000 households in the village and its neighboring areas.

During his deliberations with lawmakers from the region last year, Xi urged the resource-rich region to make greater efforts in adjusting economic structure.

According to the region's development and reform commission, Inner Mongolia will promote the large-scale development of new energy such as wind power and solar power. By 2030, the total amount of new-energy power generation will exceed that of thermal power generation as part of its "green transformation" drive.

The region will also plan to promote its energy efficiency through development of information technologies such as cloud computing, big data and the Internet of Things, according to the commission.