URUMQI, Jan. 11 -- Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Chang Wanquan has called on the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) to contribute more to social stability in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Chang asked the XPCC -- a paramilitary force that combines the functions of production, administration and defense -- to fulfil its fundamental role in maintaining social stability and border defense during a recent inspection tour in the XPCC.

While lauding the XPCC's contribution to Xinjiang's stability and prosperity in the past 60 years, Chang urged the XPCC to reform, develop, and play an exemplary role in promoting coordinated development and ethnic integration.

The XPCC must be "the stabilizer" of frontier security, "a melting pot" of all ethnic groups, and "a demonstration zone" for advanced productive forces and culture, Chang said.