Xi Jinping Urges Upholding Party Leadership by Embodying Long March Spirit and Preparing for Severe Trials

Chinese Communist Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping has emphasized inheriting the spirit of the Long March, which led the Chinese revolution to victory, and achieving national unity centered around the Chinese Communist Party.

According to Xinhua News Agency on October 22, President Xi delivered a speech at a gathering commemorating the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing that day. He stated, "To carry forward the great Long March spirit and successfully walk the path of the new Long March, we must firmly uphold the leadership of the Party and strengthen Party building," adding, "We must uphold the comprehensive leadership of the Party and the centralized, unified leadership of the Party, and unswervingly advance full and strict governance over the Party."

President Xi continued, "Faced with a complex international and domestic situation, we must bravely and skillfully engage in struggle to strengthen the morale of all the people of all ethnic groups across the Party, the country, and the military," emphasizing, "We must better coordinate development and security, and be prepared to withstand major trials that resemble stormy seas at any time."

President Xi stated, "While adhering to the general principle of pursuing progress while maintaining stability, we must ensure that the economy achieves qualitative and effective improvement alongside reasonable quantitative growth, and promote comprehensive social progress," adding, "We must uphold development for the people, by the people, and whose fruits are shared by the people, thereby promoting common prosperity for all people."

President Xi's message today is interpreted as a move to reaffirm the tone of "strict Party governance" ahead of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (20th Central Committee 5th Plenary Session) scheduled for October 26 to 29, while calling for "unity" to overcome domestic and external difficulties such as economic hardships and U.S.-China competition.

The Long March is an event that allowed the Chinese Communist Party to escape the crisis of defeat in the Chinese Civil War, gain nationwide support, and lead the revolution to victory.

Pressed by the offensives of the National Revolutionary Army (the Kuomintang), the Chinese Communist Party's Red Army left Jiangxi Province in the southeast in October 1934 and arrived in Wuqi County, Shaanxi Province in the northwest over the course of a year.

According to official records, the Central Red Army, which numbered 86,000 strong at the start of the Long March, was reduced to about 7,000 personnel in Shaanxi Province in October 1935.

The Long March concluded when the Red Army forces under Zhang Guotao and the Red Army from Hunan Province joined the Red Army in northern Shaanxi Province on October 22, 1936.

Mao Zedong established his command over the Party through the Zunyi Conference in January 1935 during the Long March.

All members of China's top leadership, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, attended the ceremony commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Long March victory that day.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.