President Xi Jinping told top Chinese leaders that major risks must be prevented to ensure a healthy economy and prevent social instability.

The speech Monday, at a Communist Party study session attended by senior provincial and ministerial officials, comes as China is experiencing its slowest economic growth in decades and a trade war with the United States.

Though Xi said the country was on a sound footing, he said China nevertheless faced “profound and complicated international and domestic changes,” according to Xinhua.

The domestic concerns include risks in “politics, ideology, economics, science and technology, and society,” he said, while repeatedly instructing cadres to properly “guide” public opinion.

“Priority should be given to strengthening the ideological and political education among the young,” he said.

Related: Update: Rapid Slowdown in China Could Threaten ‘Systemic Financial Stability,’ IMF Says

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