A senior Chinese official vowed to firmly safeguard social stability, saying it is of vital importance to China's reform and development in 2000.

Luo Gan, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remark at the first plenary meeting of the Central Commission for Comprehensive Management of Social Problems, which opened here today.

Luo, also director of the commission, said that in 1999, various member departments under the commission had centered on economic construction, stuck to anti-crime campaign, and promoted the building of safe communities, making great contributions to China's reform and development.

He pointed out that in 2000, priority should be given to the crackdown on those illicit activities hampering the development of state-owned enterprises, and on violent crimes involving firearms, explosives and criminal rings.

Luo added that the strike on the Falun Gong cult, pornography, gambling and narcotics will be continued.

He stressed that departments including public security, railways, communications, and civil aviation, should work hard to ensure traffic safety and a stable social environment, especially in the forthcoming Spring Festival, China's lunar new year, which falls on February 5.