To realize the Chinese Dream is to realize national strength and prosperity, as well as people's happiness. This is the essence of the Chinese Dream and the conviction shared by generations of Chinese people, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

National strength and prosperity as well as people's happiness has long been the dream of China, spurring Chinese people to endure hardship of foreign aggression in the past and struggle to establish New China, which was followed by reform and opening-up.

In 1925, Chairman Mao wrote in the foreword to a weekly magazine that the underlying reason for a revolution is to liberalize the Chinese nation, achieve people's governance and strive for people's economic well-being. Taking the idea forward, China's new leadership has pledged to lead the Party and people in making continued efforts to realize the goal of national rejuvenation.

Thanks to the continued efforts made by generations of Chinese people, groundbreaking changes have taken place in the country. Beijing hosted the Olympic Games in 2008 and Shanghai held the World Expo in 2010, which a century ago were at best remote dreams for China, or for that matter even the most optimistic of Chinese.

Today, the length of expressways in China is next only to that of the United States when 30 years ago the country hardly had any expressway. The nine-year compulsory education system that we see today is already two decades' old, and the country has established the world's largest medical insurance network after 10 years of unrelenting efforts.

The progress made by China is the result of the hard work put in by its people. But since the country has not yet achieved all its goals, it should be prepared for expected and unexpected difficulties as it advances toward the cause of national rejuvenation.

Despite being the world's second largest economy, China remains a developing country with 128 million people still living below the poverty line.

Besides, China's technological innovation is still way behind that of the developed world, while the urban-rural imbalance and the widening wealth disparity continue to pose major developmental problems.

Despite these problems, China is getting close to realizing the dream of national rejuvenation. By adhering to the Chinese way, fostering the Chinese spirit and rallying behind the Party leadership, the Chinese people will pass the test of the times and fulfill the historical mission of building a powerful and prosperous nation.