Beijing to set up powerful national security body in face of mounting threats
Powerful agency expected to co-ordinate efforts of various government departments covering intelligence, the military and foreign affairs
The country's top leaders have decided to set up a national security committee to chart a coherent security strategy for China - an emerging superpower facing mounting challenges to stability at home and abroad.
The communiqué issued at the end of the Communist Party Central Committee's four-day plenum said: "A national security committee will be established to perfect the national security system and national security strategy and safeguard national security."
The Xinhua report on the communiqué gave no details.
Observers said the new agency would absorb representatives from the diplomatic, military, intelligence and commerce agencies, with a view to avoiding the implementation of policies becoming fragmented.
A source with knowledge of the matter said Wang Huning, a Politburo member and long-time policy adviser to top leaders, would be the committee's executive deputy director.
Beijing has in recent years moved gradually from a low-key foreign policy approach to a more proactive one. The party leadership that took power under Xi Jinping last November is widely seen as being more assertive, especially in territorial disputes with maritime neighbours such as Japan and the Philippines.
Internally, public discontent over social and economic equality and potential ethnic unrest in Tibet and Xinjiang are considered the main security threats.