Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged officials to make "every possible effort" to solve public grievances.

He said officials must treat the handling of public petitions as important work to keeping abreast of public events, pooling people's wisdom, protecting the public interest and improving social solidarity.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in a written instruction conveyed to the eighth national conference on petition work, which was held in Beijing Tuesday to Wednesday.

He urged Party committees, government agencies and officials to handle people's legitimate appeals lawfully, in timely fashion and in the local areas, address the root causes of issues, and build a stronger grassroots system, Xi said.
The construction of the legal institutions and related system for addressing public petitions should be improved, Xi said, calling for efforts to make petition work more forward-looking, systematic and targeted.

Speaking highly of petition work in recent years, the president said those handling petitions have helped solve large numbers of problems concerning the immediate interests of the people and played an important role in safeguarding the country's reform, development and stability.

Xi ordered Party committees to enhance leadership over the work, show support and care for those handling petitions, and build a high-quality team that are loyal to the Party, dedicated to serving the people and good at working with the general public.

At the two-day event, model individuals and units were awarded for their contribution to the work and certificates of merit were granted to those who had handled petitions for more than 25 years.

China has established a system to handle appeals and petitions of the public, including citizens seeking government redress in cases ranging from illegal land acquisition, social security, education, to healthcare and environmental protection.