YULIN — President Xi Jinping has called for freeing the mind, carrying out reform and innovation, and making persistent efforts to usher in a new chapter of high-quality development in Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during a two-day inspection tour of Yulin city in Shaanxi starting on Sept 13.

Xi urged fulfilling various tasks in COVID-19 prevention and control and economic and social development, coordinating development and security in a better way.

He also emphasized the need to better serve and integrate into the new development paradigm.

On Sept 13, Xi visited a chemical company under the China Energy Investment Corporation. He said the coal industry should follow a green and low-carbon path of development, and coal consumption needs to be transformed and upgraded.

The coal chemical industry, as a sector with huge potential and good prospects, must be transformed into a high-end, diversified and low-carbon industry, Xi said, adding that sci-tech innovation is the most pressing task and efforts must be accelerated to achieve breakthroughs in key and core technologies.

During his trip to the village of Gaoxigou, Xi chatted with villagers in the field, asking about their work, income, medical care, children's education and employment.

Hailing the village as a model of ecological conservation on the Loess Plateau, Xi highlighted the need to integrate ecological governance with the development of distinctive local businesses. He emphasized exploring a way to attain coordinated development between ecology and economy, and harmony between humans and nature.

Xi later visited the revolutionary site of Yangjiagou, where Mao Zedong and the Party's central authorities stayed for over four months between 1947 and 1948, commanding the War of Liberation and leading the land reform movement.

Xi stressed always upholding and improving the Party's leadership, upholding the basic tenets of Marxism and the principle of seeking truth from facts, and adapting Marxism to China's conditions.

On the morning of Sept 14, Xi visited another revolutionary site — the premises of the former prefectural Party committee of Suide.

The CPC has the support of the people, Xi said, explaining the success of the revolution. "We must carry forward revolutionary traditions and fine conduct and always keep the people's interests uppermost in mind," he said.

Visiting a middle school in Suide, Xi watched the students practise calligraphy and do physical exercises, and chatted with them.

Education is fundamental to the pursuit of national rejuvenation, said Xi.

Xi called for efforts to cultivate young people, who are equipped with moral grounding, intellectual and physical ability, aesthetic sensibility and work skills, and are well-prepared to join the socialist cause.

The primary role of schools in education should be strengthened, Xi noted. He added that the quality of education should be improved in an all-around way while easing students' burden of excessive homework and off-campus tutoring.

While touring an exhibition hall for local intangible cultural heritage in Suide, Xi expressed appreciation for the local efforts to protect and inherit traditional culture.

As an invaluable asset of the Chinese nation, folk arts are vital to sustaining historical legacy and building a socialist country with great cultural strength, said Xi.

On the afternoon, Xi traveled to the village of Haojiaqiao and visited the home of a villager whose family was lifted out of poverty.

Xi stressed that making villagers live a better life is the unswerving mission and aspiration of the Party. He urged the whole Party and the nation to carry forward the spirit forged in the fight against poverty to secure new and greater victories in fully building a modern socialist China.

When leaving the village, Xi expressed his hope for the villagers to continue upholding the fine traditions and make further efforts in building their village into a model of rural vitalization.