China Marks 90th Anniversary of Long March Victory, Xi Calls for a 'New Long March'

China held a gathering in Beijing on October 22 to mark the 90th anniversary of the Red Army's Long March victory, with President Xi Jinping delivering an address calling on the party, the military and the Chinese people to keep pushing forward on what he described as a new Long March.

About 3,000 attend the commemoration

The event was held at the Great Hall of the People and drew about 3,000 attendees. Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended, along with Vice President Han Zheng. Zhao Leji presided over the gathering.

Looking back at the Long March

In his address, Xi revisited the history of the Long March, during which the Red Army crossed more than ten provinces between October 1934 and October 1936, a campaign that became a defining chapter in the history of the Chinese revolution. He said that only by remembering history can the country build a brighter future.

A call to walk a new era's Long March

Xi called for continuing to combine the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities, drawing strength from the people, and working toward the Second Centenary Goal through high quality economic development, common prosperity and balancing development with security.

A push on military modernization

Xi also called for accelerating the modernization of national defense and the armed forces, building the military into a world class force, maintaining the party's absolute leadership over the armed forces, and strengthening the party's own internal governance.