The Chinese Communist Party has warned officials to combat "dangerous" Western values and other perceived ideological threats, according to accounts of a directive that analysts said reflects the top leader Xi Jinping's determination to preserve top-down political control even as he considers economic liberalisation.

The warning emerged when Chinese news websites carried accounts from local party committees describing a directive from the Central Committee General Office, the administrative engine of the party leadership under Mr Xi.

Man at the top: Chinese President Xi Jinping. Credit:Feng Li

The central document, "Concerning the situation in the ideological sphere", has not been openly published, and most references to it disappeared from Chinese news and government websites by Monday afternoon, apparently reflecting censors' skittishness about publicising such warnings. But what did come to light in the local summaries exuded anxiety about the party's grip on opinion.

Mr Xi has strengthened national cohesiveness since he became general secretary in November, said a summary of a party organization meeting last week of the Commission of Urban-Rural Development of Chongqing, a municipality in south-west China.