Chinese Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun on Monday told police to act tough on violent terrorist attacks and safeguard national security.

Heads of provincial and municipal police gathered in Beijing for an annual conference on this year's police work.

Last year, several terrorist attacks happened in China. In October, a jeep crashed into a guardrail of Jinshui Bridge in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, in which five were killed and 40 others injured.

The East Turkistan Islamic Movement, a radical Islamist group identified by the United Nations as a terrorist group, later claimed responsibility.

In June, rioters killed 24 people at Lukqun township in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Police will try to be innovative in social governance to better curb and prevent violence and other crimes, Guo said.

Police should not only be tough on crime but also improve prevention and monitoring, he said.

Police departments will reform the management of household registration, or hukou, step by step, he said.

Police will also better discipline their officers so that they follow legal protocols, he added.

Xinhua