BEIJING, Jan. 13 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has described the role of county level Party chiefs as the "front-line commanders in chief."

County chiefs are often thought of as "sesame officials" who don't have much power, but Xi told 206 county Party chiefs in Beijing that their governments have taken on more responsibility in reforms, promotion of the rule of law and the enforcement of strict Party discipline.

By training officials at the grassroots level, the Communist Party of China (CPC) consolidates its governance foundation. In China, only villages and townships are below the county level. Counties play a key role in connecting the grassroots with the upper echelons of the state. They are the joints that link the higher and lower levels of the Party and the government. China has more than 2,800 counties or county-level administrative regions.

A stable country comes through stability of counties and prefectures.

As China pays great attention to the development of countryside and small or medium cities, counties have become a major economic growth engine.

County governance is a miniature of the state governance. The CPC is striving to modernize the state's governing capacity. The efficiency of counties affects China's stability.

There is a Chinese saying that goes, "to run the country well, you must first start at the county." Xi's own experience exemplifies the adage as he was a county Party chief in Hebei Province in 1980s.

Xi compared county-level CPC committees to the "front-line headquarters" reminding Party chiefs to exercise self-discipline, be loyal to the CPC and serve the people.

County officials have been major targets in the Party's anti-corruption campaign. They possess a wide range of powers in their jurisdiction. If that power is abused, it can be extremely harmful. By putting check on that power, the CPC is warning officials to be honest. Last year, the campaign netted a large number of incumbent or former county Party chiefs.

Organized by the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the 200-odd officials are the first group of participants in the seminar for county chiefs. The program, which began in November 2014, plans to train all county-level Party chiefs by the end of 2017.

Each seminar lasts two months, contrasting to previous one or two week training sessions in 2008 and 2010.

This first seminar was presided over by the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, who talked to the Party chiefs face-to-face for one and a half hours Monday.