BEIJING — The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee met on Feb 25 to discuss the draft government work report, which will be submitted by the State Council to the upcoming annual session of the national legislature for deliberation.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting.

Two reports on Party inspection were also deliberated at the meeting.

The meeting noted that the past year is a milestone in the history of the Party and the country. Faced with complex and grave domestic and international situations as well as multiple risks and challenges, China has coordinated COVID-19 control with economic and social development and accomplished the whole year's main targets relatively well, it added.

The implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) got off to a good start and China made new and major development achievements, the meeting said.

The meeting stressed that the year 2022, which will see the convocation of the CPC's 20th national congress, is significant to the development of the Party and the country's cause. Stability is the top priority of this year's work, the meeting noted.

It urged further efforts to stabilize the economy, steadfastly deepen reforms and boost the vitality of market entities.

Further efforts should be made to firmly implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand, bolster agricultural production, pursue higher-standard opening-up, and promote the stable development of foreign trade and investment, said the meeting.

It also called for efforts to persistently improve the ecological environment, forestall and defuse financial risks, and safeguard and improve people's living standards.

The government should step up its self-improvement and strive to achieve socio-economic development targets set for this year, said the meeting.

Since the CPC's 19th national congress in 2017, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has upheld and strengthened its centralized, unified leadership over financial work. Efforts have been made to ensure that the financial sector serves the real economy and to punish corruption and defuse major risks in the sector, the meeting said.

The meeting stressed the need to strengthen the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee over financial work, and to stay firmly on the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics.

It also called for more effective prevention and control of financial risks and resolute maintenance of financial stability.

The punishment and handling of corruption in the financial sector and countermeasures guarding against financial risks should be conducted simultaneously, said the meeting. It ordered efforts to advance financial reforms and continue modernizing the system and capacity for financial governance.

For work in 2022, the meeting said that while consolidating and deepening political inspections, intra-Party oversight should leave no place out of bounds and full-coverage inspections should be completed.