XI'AN, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's top security official ordered the country's judicial bodies to resolve social conflicts and continue to crackdown on crime to ensure that the Communist Party's 17th national congress could be held in a peaceful environment.

Luo Gan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee, who overseas law and order, urgedlocal Party cadres to do more mediation in dealing with social disputes or conflicts.

"Reasoning, consultation and negotiation should be applied in acomprehensive way to dissolve social conflicts," said Luo, echoingthe call from a Party newspaper urging the government to reduce the use of force to deal with social unrest.

Speaking at a two-day national security meeting which ended Tuesday in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Luo asked local officials to listen to and work on the complaints and pleas raised by the masses "to ensure their problems can be effectively resolved".

Violent protests and social unrest with mass participation, officially termed "mass incidents", have become more frequent in recent years. Most riots originated from unanswered petitions and public discontent concerning issues such as land acquisition and unjust law enforcement.

The Study Times, a weekly newspaper sponsored by the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, last month published a commentary urging local government officials to refrain from forceto control protests as violence might intensify conflicts.

"Local governments should distinguish between a collective appeal to the higher authorities for help and a violation of the law," it said, adding that police should only be involved in mass incidents where laws and regulations had been violated.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, 17,900 "mass incidents" occurred nationwide in the first nine months of 2006, down 22.1 percent from the same period a year earlier.

But this year is expected to be a sensitive period for judicialofficials, as the Party's National Congress, to be held in the second half of the year, is convened only once every five years.

In addition to resolving social conflicts, Luo told judicial officials to seriously crackdown on crimes that threaten life and property, and to increase patrols in regions plagued by violence and crimes.

He said the campaign to eradicate organized crime should be continued and officials should try to establish a lasting mechanism for crime prevention.