Xi calls on province to lead the drive for common prosperity

President Xi Jinping has called on Zhejiang province to play a leading role in the nation's common prosperity drive, saying that the eastern province should become an example showcasing the strength of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made a fact-finding trip to Jinhua and Shaoxing in Zhejiang on Wednesday.

He made the visit before hosting Asian leaders and attending the opening ceremony of the ongoing 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, the provincial capital.

The fact-finding trip took him to a village, an international small-commodities market, an exhibition hall, and a culture park featuring the Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

During his visit to Lizu, a village in Jinhua, Xi was delighted to learn that its annual per capita income had reached 52,000 yuan ($7,250) and expressed his hope that the villagers would make further efforts and achieve more results in advancing rural vitalization.

He later visited Yiwu International Trade Market in Jinhua, where he learned about the operation of the market and the China-Europe freight trains. Xi urged the trade market to contribute more to expanding markets at home and abroad as well as to smoothening domestic and international economic flows.

While visiting a canal culture park in Shaoxing, he stressed that culture related to the Grand Canal, the world's longest artificial waterway, is an important part of the fine traditional Chinese culture and demands proper protection, inheritance and utilization.

At a briefing on Thursday on the work of the provincial Party committee and the provincial government, Xi urged Zhejiang, a manufacturing powerhouse and leading innovation hub, to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy and focus on building a new development pattern and promoting high-quality development.