Xinhua and the South China Morning Post separately reported (March 25) Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit on inspection to Fujian Province from March 22-25. During the visit, he called on cadres to make more efforts to serve and integrate into the new development paradigm in fully building a modern socialist country. He asked Fujian to make greater progress in developing a modernized economy, take bigger strides in exploring a new way of integrated development on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and achieve greater breakthroughs in creating a high-quality life. Xi Jinping visited the cities of Nanping, Sanming and Fuzhou. While visiting RICOM, an optical lens company, Xi Jinping underscored the importance of independent innovation and said "We can only be in the front rank in scientific and technological development through making innovations, while following others will not work. We must accelerate our pace to achieve self-reliance in science and technology." Xi Jinping also inspected the Fuzhou-based Minjiang University where he told students to bear the responsibility of realizing national rejuvenation and actively devote themselves to building a modern socialist China. The South China Morning Post added that on his first stop in Wuyishan, Fujian province, Xi Jinping visited a park dedicated to Zhu Xi, a 12th century Confucian scholar, and said the past was central to identity. Xie Maosong, Professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was quoted as saying the themes of Xi Jinping's trip were: rural revitalisation, environmental protection, innovation and confidence in Chinese culture. He said “Xi’s message is clear: China is going to focus on its own development schedule, no matter what happens [externally]. Just like Mao Zedong’s poem, ‘despite the wind and waves, it is just like a walk in the park’.”

(Comment: Xi Jinping spent 17½ years in Fujian after he was appointed deputy mayor of Xiamen in June 1985.)