Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers an important speech at a symposium held by the CPC Central Committee to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Mao Zedong at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Tuesday morning held a symposium at the Great Hall of the People to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Mao Zedong.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the symposium.

Xi stressed the importance of pushing forward the cause pioneered by Comrade Mao Zedong and called for efforts to build China into a stronger country and rejuvenate the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization.

Mao Zedong Thought is an invaluable spiritual wealth for our Party and will guide our action in the long term, Xi said, underscoring that the best way to commemorate Comrade Mao Zedong is to continue to advance the cause pioneered by him.

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Ding Xuexiang, and Li Xi, and Vice President Han Zheng attended the symposium. Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the symposium.

In his speech, Xi said that the life of Comrade Mao Zedong was one devoted to national prosperity, rejuvenation, and people's happiness.

Mao led the people in blazing a trail for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, forging the great, glorious and correct CPC and founding the New China with the people being masters of the country, Xi said.

He also led the people in establishing the advanced socialist system and founding a new model of people's army that is invincible, Xi said.

Mao made indelible historic contributions to the Chinese nation and the Chinese people, which will go down in history, Xi said.

Comrade Mao Zedong devoted his life to the Party and the people, and his noble spirit will be forever remembered by posterity.

Noting that the central task of the whole Party and the entire nation on the new journey of the new era is to build China into a stronger country and rejuvenate the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization, Xi said it is a cause passed down from veteran revolutionaries including Mao Zedong, and is the solemn historical responsibility of today's Chinese Communists.

On the new journey, we must never forget our original aspiration and founding mission, and must remain confident in our history and grasp historical initiative, so as to steadily advance the great cause of Chinese modernization, said Xi.

Chinese modernization is the cause of all Chinese people, emphasized Xi. He called for efforts to stimulate the historical initiative of the people, and reiterated that the gains of modernization should benefit all the people fairly.

He also stressed the importance of breaking new frontiers in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

Reform and opening-up is a major reason why China has been able to catch up with the times at such an extraordinary pace, and is a crucial move that determines the fate of Chinese modernization, said Xi.

He stressed that to advance Chinese modernization, it is a must to further deepen reform and opening-up across the board, and remove all institutional barriers hindering the advancement of Chinese modernization, so as to continue expanding its development space.

Chinese modernization is the socialist modernization led by the CPC, said Xi, stressing that only by making the Party stronger can Chinese modernization realize steady and sustained development.

He said that it is necessary to improve the systems for exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, and ensure the Party will never change its nature, its conviction, or its character.

Noting that the advancement of Chinese modernization calls for the efforts of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation in solidarity, Xi underscored the need to uphold and improve the systems for implementing the "one country, two systems" policy and ensure that the central government exercises overall jurisdiction over the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

He stressed the need to see that Hong Kong and Macao are administered by patriots, and ensure both the central government's overall jurisdiction and a high degree of autonomy in the special administrative regions.

Xi said that realizing China's complete reunification is an inevitable trend, stressing that it is where the greater national interest lies, and it is what the people desire.

Highlighting the need to implement the Party's overall policy for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era, and uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, Xi called for efforts to advance integrated development in all fields across the Taiwan Strait, and promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

We will resolutely prevent anyone from making Taiwan secede from China by any means, Xi underscored.

He stressed that Chinese modernization is the modernization of peaceful development, which not only benefits Chinese people, but is also conducive to promoting modernization of other countries.

Dedicated to peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, we will carry forward the shared values of humanity, and advance the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, Xi said.

By doing so, we will bring about an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity, he added.

China's development strengthens the world's forces for peace, Xi said, stressing that no matter what stage of development it reaches, China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansionism.

While presiding over the symposium, Cai Qi urged earnest study and full implementation of Xi's speech and called for concerted efforts in advancing the great cause of building China into a stronger country and rejuvenating the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization.

Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and relevant leading officials of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the Central Military Commission attended the symposium.

Before the symposium, leaders including Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng came to the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, where they made three bows toward Mao's seated statue and paid respects to the remains of Mao.