Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has the confidence and capability to defeat all invading enemies and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks after reviewing a grand military parade at the Zhurihe military training base in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to mark the PLA’s 90th founding anniversary.

The PLA also has the confidence and capability to build a stronger military and make new and greater contribution to realizing China’s two centenary goals and the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, and safeguarding world peace, Xi said.

President Xi Jinping on Sunday ordered the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to follow the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks after reviewing a grand military parade at the Zhurihe military training base in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to mark the PLA’s 90th founding anniversary.

“Officers and soldiers, you must unswervingly stick to the fundamental principle and system of the Party’s absolute leadership over the army, always listen to and follow the Party’s orders, and march to wherever the Party points to,” Xi said.

PLA officers and soldiers should firmly adhere to the fundamental goal of serving the people wholeheartedly, and always stand together with the people, Xi said.

President Xi Jinping said Sunday China needs a strong army more than ever, urging the building of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into a world-class military force.

Speaking shortly after a grand military parade at the Zhurihe training base in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to mark the PLA’s 90th anniversary, Xi said enjoying peace is a bliss for the people while protecting peace is the responsibility of the people’s army.@ “The world is not all at peace, and peace must be safeguarded,” said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

“Today, we are closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than any other time in history, and we need to build a strong people’s military more than any other time in history,” Xi said.

He urged the PLA to fully implement the CPC’s thoughts on building a strong military, follow the path of strengthening the army with Chinese characteristics, strive for the CPC’s target on strengthening the PLA under the new circumstances, and build the heroic PLA into a world-class military.

China’s success in reforesting the once barren Kubuqi Desert has seen the region gradually prosper in the development of the green economy, while the country seeks to share and promote the model worldwide.

The sixth Kubuqi International Desert Forum kicked off Saturday in the Kubuqi Desert in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, attracting delegates and experts from home and abroad to discuss desertification.

Kubuqi is the seventh largest desert in China, covering an area of 18,600 square kilometers. It was once the source of frequent sandstorms hitting Beijing.

Over the past three decades, farmers and herdsmen in Kubuqi planted Chinese medicinal herbs, such as liquorice, to improve soil, built photovoltaic power stations for electricity and fostered tourism.

These efforts not only contributed to the greening of more than 6,000 square kilometers of Kubuqi, but also lifted 102,000 people out of poverty.

The core of success at Kubuqi is its sustainable business model, and the establishment of a system that incorporates policy instruments, private sector investment and active participation of locals, according to a policy report from the United Nations Environment Programme.

The greening project in Kubuqi has offered a model for the world to tackle desertification, said representatives of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

China has made great progress in the fight against desertification in the past few years, with shrinking degraded land and reduced poverty in desertified areas.

The area of desertified land in the country now shrinks by an annual average of over 2,400 square km, compared with an annual average expansion of over 10,000 square km at the end of last century, making China the first country in the world to achieve desert shrinkage, according to Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai, who addressed the forum’s opening ceremony.

China will keep innovating taxation, investment and financing mechanism for desertification control, bring more parties to join efforts in the endeavor and improve local people’s income by developing related industries, Ma said.

For the 2016-2020 period, China aims to rehabilitate 10 million hectares of desertified land and turn more than half of the country’s reclaimable desert into green land.

In early September, China will host a United Nations meeting on fighting desertification in Inner Mongolia, which is expected to draw a roadmap to end desert expansion by 2030.

China is willing to uphold the Silk Road spirit and work together with the international community to build a greener world and contribute to global sustainable development, Ma added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping mounted a field jeep to inspect troops at Zhurihe training base in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Sunday morning.

Han Weiguo, commander-in-chief of the parade and commander of the Central Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), reported to Xi that the troops are ready.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, ordered the inspection to begin.

The parade is held in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of PLA.