President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to transform and upgrade the country's energy industry, especially the coal-fired power sector, by choosing a path of green and low-carbon development.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remark on Monday as he visited a chemical plant in Yulin, Shaanxi province, where coal mining is the city's main industry.

During his visit to the plant, which is under the China Energy Investment Corp, he inspected its central control room and learned about its use of coal.

He stressed the importance of continuing to develop the energy sector. Otherwise, the country's modernization drive will lack enough support, he said.

Through transformation and upgrading, the industry's development will not have a serious impact on the nation's resources and its environment, and it will also contribute to fulfilling the country's commitment to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, Xi said.

This will help meet the requirements of building a community with a shared future for mankind and protect the planet, he added.

Xi has underlined the importance of green development and a circular economy on several occasions.

In April, when addressing a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xi said that China's modernization promotes the harmonious coexistence of people and nature.

In a video summit with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the same month, the Chinese president reiterated China's pledges on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, saying that the task is extremely challenging but China will deliver on its promise.

On Monday, Xi also visited Gaoxigou, a village in Mizhi county, where he learned about work in controlling soil erosion and advancing ecological conservation.

When visiting Yangjiagou revolutionary site, he was briefed about progress in strengthening the protection of revolutionary sites, as well as sustaining the revolutionary legacy.