Chinese President Xi Jinping called for greater efforts to build a strong border, coastal and air defence system to meet rapidly changing security needs, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

China should beef up defence construction in border and coastal areas and improve relations with neighbouring countries to create a favourable environment for safeguarding security, Xi said on Tuesday at a meeting with senior officials, Xinhua reported.

“China faces new opportunities and challenges in border, coastal and air defence” due to drastic changes in the global landscape, Xi said. He made the remarks at a study session of the elite Politburo of the ruling Communist Party prior to the country’s Army Day on Thursday, an anniversary of the founding of China’s armed forces. 

The world’s No 2 economy has been engaged in a bitter border dispute with India after a 2020 skirmish that left 20 Indian and at least four Chinese soldiers dead.

China also has overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea with regional countries including the Philippines and Vietnam. Tensions between Beijing and Manila ran high this year over the contested Spratly Islands, with Chinese and Philippine vessels colliding and blaming each other for the confrontation.

At the meeting Xi also called for better coordination between military and civilian governments and improving air traffic management, according to Xinhua.

  - Bloomberg