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. [Photo/Xinhua] 

BEIJING -- The Communist Party of China Central Committee on Dec 26 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, 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, 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.