Xinhua reported (January 7) that the Politburo Standing Committee held a day-long meeting on January 7 to listen to the work reports of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the work of the Central Secretariat report. CPC Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the meeting and delivered an important speech. The meeting pointed out that the authority of the Party Central Committee and centralized and unified leadership are the highest principles of adhering to the party's leadership and the fundamental guarantee of our country's institutional advantages. The meeting said that in the past year, the Party Group of the NPC Standing Committee, State Council, CPPCC, Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate had "firmly upheld the authority and centralized leadership of the Party Central Committee, and firmly maintained the core position of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Party Central Committee and the core position of the entire party". It emphasised that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan and that, "standing at the historical intersection of the "two centenary" goals, we must be full of confidence and be prepared for danger in times of peace".  The meeting emphasized that the CCP CC Secretariat "should take the lead in enhancing the "four consciousnesses", strengthening the "four self-confidence", and achieving "two safeguards" and insist on focusing on the center and serving the overall situation. 

(Comment: The mention at this time of the need to "be full of confidence and be prepared for danger in times of peace" is intriguing.)