Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping called for greater efforts in mass work on Wednesday, calling it a basic, regular, and essential task of social management.

"Mass work must be in every aspect and every link of social management. This is to resolve social conflicts, maintain social stability, and promote social harmony," said Xi at the end of a seminar attended by provincial and ministerial-level officials in Beijing.

At the opening ceremony of the seminar on Saturday, Chinese President Hu Jintao said that officials should improve social management capabilities and make innovations in management to "ensure a harmonious and stable society full of vitality."

Xi added that the governance of the Communist Party of China (CPC) cannot be effective without vigorous mass work and, since social management is primarily the service and management of people, it is, indeed, equivalent to mass work.

Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, noted that the principle of serving the people wholeheartedly must be fully implemented if outstanding mass work is to be achieved.

That would require officials to solve the most important and immediate issues of the people, such as education, employment, health care and housing, he said.

Xi added that improving people's livelihood is the most fundamental part of mass work.

Xi noted that the Party organizations and cadres at the grassroots level are the most basic, direct, and effective forces in performing mass work.

He also urged greater efforts to provide help for them. The seminar was held in the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2011)