Chinese leader Xi Jinping called on his top national security officials to think about it “worst case scenario” and prepare for “stormy seas”, as the ruling Communist Party tightens efforts to deal with internal and external threats.

“The complexity and difficulty of the national security issues we now face have increased significantly,” Xi said Tuesday at a meeting of the party’s National Security Committee, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

“We must keep in mind the worst possible scenario and be prepared to face great challenges from strong headwinds and waves and even dangerous stormy seas” he added.

Since taking power a decade ago, Xi has made national security a central paradigm that permeates all aspects of China’s governance, experts say. It has expanded the concept of national security to cover everything from politics, economics, defense, culture and ecology to cyberspace.

According to Xi on “comprehensive national security”, China has introduced a series of laws to protect it from threats such as counter-terrorism, espionage, cyber security, foreign non-governmental organizations, national intelligence and data security.