Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for nationwide safety inspections and efforts to forestall major accidents following a passenger plane crash. 

Xi, also general secretary of the Community Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in an instruction on March 24, three days after the China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 aircraft crashed in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. All 132 people on board were dead, according to the national emergency response headquarters for the accident. 

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Xi said a number of traffic, construction and mining accidents had occurred recently, and that the March 21 plane crash in particular had caused heavy casualties, which he said "has sounded the alarm" again. 

Those who manage an industry, business and production must also be responsible for workplace safety, he stressed. 

He urged CPC committees and governments at all levels to put people's lives first and always stay alert in coordinating development and safety, adding that those who neglect their duties must be held accountable for any safety issue that emerges. 

He called for comprehensive safety inspections across the country and strong measures to remove all kinds of risks and hidden dangers, stressing that efforts must be made to forestall major accidents and protect people's lives and properties. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also made an instruction on production safety, calling for efforts to learn the lessons of recent accidents. Illegal behaviors that threaten workplace safety in mining, hazardous chemical, construction, traffic and fire-fighting industries and fields must be punished resolutely, Li stressed. 

A national video and telephone conference on production safety was held in Beijing recently to stress responsibilities and strengthen measures to ensure production safety nationwide. 

(Cover: Rescuers conduct search and rescue work at the core site of the crash of the China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 aircraft in Tengxian County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 25, 2022. /Xinhua)