HOHHOT, Aug. 10 -- A central delegation headed by China's top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng spread across Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Thursday to visit residents in the northern border region, which is marking its 70th anniversary.

Heading one group of the delegation, Yu, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, visited Baotou City.

Attending a symposium there, Yu affirmed the progress made in the city and called on people to create a more brilliant future.

Efforts should be made to deepen supply-side structural reform, improve people's wellbeing, prioritize ecology in development, handle ethnic affairs well, and advance comprehensive and strict governance within the Communist Party of China (CPC), he said.

Yu also visited a major steel company, a rare earth research institute and the Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group Co. Ltd.

Three other central delegation groups, headed respectively by Vice Premier Liu Yandong; Sun Chunlan, head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee; and Zhang Ping, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, visited other parts of Inner Mongolia on Thursday, including Hulun Buir, Alxa League and Ordos.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the country's first ethnic autonomous region established at the provincial level under the leadership of the CPC.