The Communist Party of China (CPC) will adhere to the independent foreign policy of peace and constantly improve its ability to handle international affairs so as to create a good international and surrounding environment for China's modernization drive, says a major document released Sunday in Beijing.

This is a must for the Party to lead the people in achieving the great goal of building a relatively affluent society in an all-round way and in safeguarding world peace and development for common prosperity, says the decision on enhancing the Party's governance capability, adopted at the recent Fourth Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee.

The decision says the Party will improve its ability to judge international situation, unswervingly implement the set foreign policy and constantly enhance its capability of carrying out exchanges with the international community.

"We should always put national sovereignty and security in the first place and firmly safeguard state security," says the document.

Facing the new situation characterized by the interweaving of traditional threat and non-traditional threat on security, "we should enhance the sense of state security, improve the strategy of state security, and spare no time to establish a scientific, well-coordinated and highly efficient work mechanism to maintain state security," it says.

"We will resolutely guard against and fight the infiltrative, subversive and separative activities of all hostile forces and effectively guard against and deal with various risks from the international economic field, so as to safeguard China's political, economic, cultural and information security," says the document.

It is a major strategic task of the Party's governance to adhere to coordinated development of national defense and economic growth for building a modernized regular revolutionary army to safeguard national security.

The document reiterates the importance of the Party's absolute leadership over the military and that of adhering to the military strategy of active defense, while pushing forward military reform with Chinese characteristics and improving the armed forces' combat capability of defense in the information era.

Maintaining long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao is a brand-new subject of the Party's governance under new circumstances, and solving the issue of Taiwan and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland is a sacred task of the Party, the document says.

"We will adhere to the principle of 'one country, two systems,''Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong,' 'Macao People governing Macao' and a high degree of autonomy, act strictly according to the Basic Laws of the two special administrative regions (SAR), and support the chief executives and SAR governments to administer according to law and improve their governance capability."

"We firmly oppose any interference in Hong Kong and Macao affairs by outside forces," says the document.

The Party will implement the basic principle of "peaceful unification and one country, two systems" and the eight-point proposal on developing relations across the Taiwan Straits and promoting peaceful reunification of the motherland at the present stage.

At the same time, it says, "we will promote personnel, economic and cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Straits, strive to safeguard peace and stability in the region and push forward the great cause of reunification of the motherland."

"We will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with our utmost sincerity and utmost efforts, resolutely oppose and hold back separating elements for 'Taiwan independence', and resolutely oppose and stop any activities of foreign forces to meddle with affairs across the Straits."

"We will resolutely crush any conspiracy aimed at separating Taiwan from China and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity," the document says.