Beijing:

Chinese President Xi Jinping this week urged troops to boost their war preparedness, state media reported today, just days after Beijing conducted large-scale military exercises around Taiwan.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, Xi made his remarks on Thursday while visiting a brigade of the People's Liberation Army Missile Force.

Xi said the military should “comprehensively strengthen training and preparation for war and ensure that troops have solid combat capabilities,” state media CCTV reported.

The soldiers must “improve their strategic deterrence and combat capability,” Xi said.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has increased its shows of force around the self-ruled island in recent years.

On Monday, Beijing deployed fighter jets, drones, warships and coast guard ships to encircle Taiwan, the fourth round of large-scale war games around the democratic island in just over two years.

China's Communist leaders have insisted they will not rule out using force to bring Taiwan under Beijing's control.

According to the CCTV report, Xi said on Thursday that the Chinese military must “strongly protect the country's strategic security and core interests.”

The dispute between China and Taiwan dates back to a civil war in which Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist forces were defeated by Mao Zedong's communist fighters and fled to the island in 1949.

Since then, China and Taiwan have been governed separately.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)