BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping has stressed the Party's absolute leadership over political and legal work.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the statement in an instruction read at the central conference on political and legal affairs, which opened in Beijing Monday.

He urged law enforcement and judicial agencies to better safeguard the country's "political security and social stability," promote justice and guarantee a safe living environment for the people.