Xi underlines legacy of Long March

President Xi Jinping encouraged the Chinese people to be prepared for a new Long March toward national rejuvenation during a visit to a revolutionary base in Jiangxi province on Monday.

"We came here to the starting point of the Long March to experience the situation of the Red Army's departure during those years. Now there is a new Long March, and we should make a new start," Xi said at a memorial park in Yudu county, Ganzhou.

The Long March covered over 12,500 kilometers from October 1934 to October 1936. It was a military maneuver carried out by the Red Army and led by the Communist Party of China to combat the Kuomintang regime. The expedition, beginning in Yudu, laid the foundation for the Party's victory.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, laid a floral basket at a monument on Monday marking the departure of the Long March.

At a museum marking the start of the Long March, Xi spoke with nine representatives of descendants of Red Army soldiers and relatives of revolutionary martyrs.

The People's Republic of China was founded at the cost of the blood of numerous revolutionary martyrs, Xi said, adding that the CPC and the Red Army, upholding lofty revolutionary ideals, had brought about incredible achievements after repeatedly surviving desperate situations during the Long March.

Xi called for staying true to the revolutionary martyrs, the Party's original aspiration and mission, its revolutionary ideals and principles, and the people living near revolutionary sites. Xi's inspection tour took place a week after the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided to launch a campaign on the subject of remaining true to the Party's original aspirations and keeping its mission firmly in mind.

On Monday afternoon, Xi also visited the home of Sun Guanfa, a 71-year-old veteran who is also a descendant of a Red Army martyr, at Tantou village, Zishan township.

Hearing that Sun's family members had no difficulties in employment and education, Xi said as long as the people follow the Party's leadership, China will definitely achieve great rejuvenation and the people will enjoy a better life.

"The Communist Party is dedicated to making the people happy, and the CPC Central Committee is making all efforts to bring about better lives for the people," Xi said while visiting a greenhouse in the township.

On Monday morning, Xi visited the JL MAG Rare-Earth Co and learned about the company's production of rare earths and the development of the rare earth industry in Ganzhou.