China on Thursday marked the 170th anniversary of the publication of the Communist Manifesto, the guiding political document for the communist movement.

With the publication of the document, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in February 1848, Marxism emerged "as if a lightning cut through dark sky," said an article published by Xinhua News Agency on Thursday.

A commentary published in Thursday's People's Daily, the Communist Party of China (CPC) flagship newspaper, compared the Communist Manifesto to "a glorious dawn in human spiritual history" and "a spiritual home for communists."

Chinese communists today can still learn a lot from and be inspired by the Communist Manifesto, said an article published on Study Times, which is run by the CPC Central Committee Party School.

The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China published a post titled "Happy Birthday, Communist Manifesto" on its WeChat public account, which was read by more than 100,000 people and liked by thousands.

"From the Communist Manifesto to Leninism, from Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we can see a coherent trajectory," said Han Zhenfeng, dean of the School of Marxism at Beijing Jiaotong University.

Although China has walked its own path of revolution and socialist development, Marxism has always been the guide, said Prof. Chen Xianda at Renmin University of China.

The Communist Manifesto, among other classics of Communism, could be seen on the bookshelf behind President Xi Jinping as he delivered a New Year speech on Dec. 31, 2017 that was broadcast on TV and online.

In the 170 years since the publication of the document, the world has seen China emerge from a weak, less-developed country to a prosperous nation and break away from the development model of the West and figure out a more suitable pattern of modernization.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era is not only a cause for China but also an important and remarkable part of socialism in the 21st century, said Jiang Hui of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

The year 2018 marks the 170th anniversary of the Communist Manifesto as well as the 40th anniversary of socialist China's launch of the reform and opening-up drive.

China offers a reference for other developing countries that struggle to modernize, as well as developed countries troubled by inherent plight, said Fang Ning, head of the Institute of Political Science at CASS.