国内英语新闻:Senior Chinese leader urges efforts to ensure safe festival

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese official Zhou Yongkang Tuesday called on law enforcement personnel to take more preventive measures against crime and accidents during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Zhou, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, visited community security personnel, a district court, and police patrolling downtown Beijing Tuesday.

He also visited a police station that is responsible for keeping public order in the area surrounding the central leadership compound of Zhongnanhai.

During his visits, Zhou, who also heads the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, said China was seeing the travel peak for the Spring Festival and some regions were suffering icy weather and lingering drought.

He asked the police to take effective measures in traffic control and fire-fighting work, and maintain social order during the holiday season.

He commended the practice of deploying special police to patrol the surrounding areas of the Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, saying it could deter crime and enable quick responses to emergencies.

During his visit to the district court, Zhou warned there were still "many social conflicts."

He asked local courts to solve social conflicts more effectively, promote innovative social management and law enforcement in a just and clean manner.

The Spring Festival, or Chinese lunar New Year, is the most important festival for Chinese. It falls on Feb. 3 this year.