China’s Xi urges ruling party members to advance toward 2nd centenary goal

China’s President Xi Jinping has called on the Chinese Communist Party members to advance toward the second centenary goal of the country as the nation prepares to commemorate the ruling party’s 100th founding anniversary.

Xi on Tuesday asked the party’s members and officials to advance toward the second centenary goal of fully building a modern socialist country, as well as national rejuvenation.

The Chinese president also called on all members to “firmly keep the loyalty and love for the party and the people close to one’s heart, turn that into action, dedicate everything, even your precious life, to the party and the people.”

Xi made the remarks during a medal awarding ceremony honoring 29 members as part of the ruling party’s 100th-anniversary celebrations this week.

Soldiers, community workers, and professionals in the arts and science were among those who were granted the “July 1 medal” — announced in 2017 and given out for the first time on Tuesday — for their “outstanding contributions” to the party.

The Chinese Communist Party was founded on July 1, 1921, and is now one of the world’s most powerful political groupings. The Chinese Communist Party’s members constitute nearly 6.6% of China’s population. In 2019, it had 91.9 million members.

The party has been in power since 1949.

During the ceremony, Xi, who is also the general secretary of the Party’s Central Committee, said the party had written a great chapter in the history of the Chinese nation’s development and that of humanity’s progress over the past century.

As part of the celebrations, a gala performance was staged on Monday night in the National Stadium with party leaders and foreign diplomats in attendance.