The Chinese military must move faster to become a world-class fighting force. It is one of the statements by Xi Jinping, Chinese president, at the party congress this past weekend.

Xi urges speeding up building a world-class army. “We must strengthen our sense of difficulties and be prepared for danger in peacetime,” reports the South China Morning Post .

The Chinese president has stressed the importance of strengthening the capacity to maintain national security, guarantee food and energy supplies, secure supply chains, improve capacity to deal with disasters and protect personal information.

The biggest applause at the congress came when Xi reiterated his opposition to Taiwan independence.

In his decade in power, Xi has set China on an increasingly authoritarian path that has prioritized security, state control of the economy in the name of “common prosperity,” more assertive diplomacy, a stronger military and mounting pressure to take over democratically governed Taiwan, CBC reports .