Beijing: China will have a new national security agency to address both internal and external threats facing the country, President Xi Jinping announced on Friday.
The National Security Commission, stated to be modelled on the US` National Security Council, will consist of the heads of military, intelligence and top homeland security officials to deal with threats to China`s sovereignty and internal security, Xi said.
Xi said that China needs to safeguard its sovereignty, security and international interests, while maintaining domestic political security and social stability.
"State security and social stability are preconditions for reform and development", Xi was quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency as saying.
The new commission, approved by the Plenum of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) in its November 9-12 meeting, came after a suicide attack at the Tiananmen square on October 29 by Islamic militants from Uyghur majority Xinjiang province killing five people and injuring 40 others.
The attack was followed by serial blasts in front of the CPC office in Taiyuan city on November 6 in which one person was killed and eight others injured.
After several rounds of border tensions in recent months, China and India recently signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) to avoid face-offs like that in Depsang valley in Ladakh.
China is also locked in a bitter dispute with Japan over Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. It has disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei over territory in the South China sea.
"Establishing a national security commission to strengthen the unified leadership of the state security work is an urgent need", Xi said.
