Xi stressed that achieving national rejuvenation will be no walk in the park, and it will take more than drum beating and gong clanging to get there. We must undertake a great struggle with many new contemporary features and be prepared to work even harder toward this goal. Over the past decade, we have encountered risks and challenges that were like high winds and raging waves, with some of them as severe as storms on the sea. All sorts of risks and challenges have arrived one after another, making the situation unprecedentedly grim and complex. We have braved difficulties with firm confidence and won one battle after another. All the achievements we have made are outcomes of the hard work of our Party and the people, Xi said.

Having Marxism as a sound theoretical guide is the source of our Party's distinctive political character and huge political strength, Xi noted. It has been proved that at the fundamental level, the capability of our Party and the strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics are attributable to the fact that Marxism works. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, changes taking place at home and abroad and developments in practices have presented us with a series of important theoretic and practical questions that urgently require our in-depth answers. We have continued to adapt the basic tenets of Marxism to China's specific realities and its fine traditional culture, forming the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and achieving a new breakthrough in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.

The whole Party must grasp the outlook and methodology of the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and uphold and make good use of its standpoints, viewpoints and methods. We will thus be able to open up new horizons in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our times through great practices in the new era.

Xi stressed that based on long-term exploration and practices since the founding of the PRC in 1949, especially since the launch of reform and opening up in 1978, we have successfully promoted and expanded a uniquely Chinese modernization with new breakthroughs in theories and practices since the 18th CPC National Congress.