Xi Story: Ensuring a better life for the people

BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- When visiting a Li ethnic village in the southern province of Hainan last April, President Xi Jinping said that he was glad to see the villagers enjoying a happy life, and urged officials at all levels to put "every possible effort" into ensuring a better life for the people.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has set an example with his own actions.

During that Hainan inspection, Xi visited the home of Wang Bohe, a Li ethnic villager, and took part in the process of frying tea leaves at the family's handmade-tea workshop, where he bought two packets of tea. He encouraged Wang and his family to run the tea business well and to become increasingly well-off.

In a talk with locals, Xi learned about how the villagers developed industries based on local conditions, and protected and kept alive their traditional ethnic culture.

The lives of ordinary people are always on Xi's mind, especially around the Chinese Lunar New Year, one of the most important traditional holidays in the country.

In January 2022, Xi joined Shi Hongbing, a villager from north China's Shanxi Province, while Shi was preparing food for the Lunar New Year with his family.

Shi's village, Fengnanyuan, was among those hit hardest by unprecedented floods that lashed Shanxi the previous autumn. Shi showed Xi around his new house, which had been rebuilt with the help of a government subsidy and other assistance measures distributed after the floods.

"I came to Shanxi primarily out of concern for people whose work and lives were affected by last year's disaster," Xi told the villagers.

"I feel reassured to see that the rebuilt houses are of good quality, the subsidies are in place, and that you are so well-prepared for the festival," Xi said.

In his 11th pre-Chinese New Year visit to local people -- through video link this year -- Xi chatted with residents of Shiyi Village in the city of Mianyang, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The village has been reconstructed after a devastating earthquake in 2008 and has become an exemplary village thanks to its specialty agricultural products and abundant tourism resources, featuring the Qiang ethnic group.

Xi asked about the village's income and the number of tourists visiting the village, among other aspects of their life and work, and was pleased to learn that local agriculture and agritourism businesses are thriving.

"You have set a good example for rural revitalization in the new era," Xi said, encouraging villagers to strive together for common prosperity and a more prosperous life.

Since assuming the Party's top job in November 2012, Xi has on multiple occasions stressed the commitment to meeting people's aspirations for a better life, and wherever his visits took him -- from remote border areas to neighborhoods in a metropolis -- people's livelihoods and local development were always a priority in his heart.

"To ensure that everyone leads a better life, we must never rest on what we have achieved, and there is still a long way to go." The president's busy schedule over the past decade and more is a vivid demonstration of his actions backing up his words.