Xi says multi-party system didn't work for China

China's President Xi Jinping speaks at the College of Europe at the Concert Hall in Bruges, northern Belgium April 1, 2014. REUTERS/Yves Logghe/Pool

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China experimented in the past with various political systems, including multi-party democracy, but it did not work, President Xi Jinping said during a visit to Europe, warning that copying foreign political or development models could be catastrophic.

China's constitution enshrines the Communist Party's long-term "leading" role in government, though it allows the existence of various other political parties under what is calls a "multi-party cooperation system". But all are subservient to the Communist Party.