NANJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed efforts to focus on the goals for the centenary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and break new ground for theater command development and war preparedness.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection of the headquarters of the PLA Eastern Theater Command in east China's Jiangsu province on Thursday.

Xi, on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, extended sincere greetings to all the officers and soldiers of the command. He met with their representatives and had group photos with them.

Xi fully affirmed the significant contributions the command has made since its founding in safeguarding China's territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests as well as national unity.

As the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, China's security situation is facing rising instability and uncertainty, Xi noted.

He called for vigilance against potential dangers and all-out efforts to fulfill the duty of combat tasked with theater commands.

Xi also called for enhancing the planning of war and combat, strengthening the command system for joint operations, and stepping up training under real combat conditions to raise the forces' capabilities to fight and win.

Xi said military issues must be considered and handled from a political perspective.

He said the armed forces must have the courage and ability to fight, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.

He called for strengthening Party building in all aspects and make the Party committee of the theater command more capable of leading combat readiness, thus fully fulfilling tasks entrusted by the Party and the people.