ISTANBUL

China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday chaired a meeting to discuss guidelines for leadership on foreign affairs of the country, an official statement said.

The issue was discussed during a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in Beijing.

"The regulations on the Party's (CPC) leadership over foreign affairs are of great significance to the sound implementation of the policies, principles, and strategic plans made by the CPC Central Committee on external affairs," the statement said.

It stressed the need to "further strengthen the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee over foreign affairs, and accelerate efforts to create a sound system of laws and regulations on foreign-related matters."

The Political Bureau emphasized the importance of "implementing Xi Jinping Thought on diplomacy in the whole process and every aspect of the work relating to foreign affairs to make greater contributions to safeguarding global peace and development and building a community with a shared future for humanity."

Beijing’s huddle of top leadership comes after China removed its former foreign and defense ministers, Qin Gang and Li Shangfu, in recent months.

China has yet to name its new defense chief.

Qin was reportedly removed over extra-marital affairs while allegations of corruption were reported in the case of Li. There has been no formal explanation by Beijing over the sudden removal of the two top ministers, picked by Xi himself for his Cabinet under his precedent-breaking third term.