Full Text of Hu Jintao's speech at CPC anniversary gathering

All Party members must put the people foremost in their minds, respect the people as masters of the house and their creativity, and treat them as teachers. We must ensure that in their growth, our political vision and governance capacity draw inspiration from the creative practices of the people. We should attach great importance to work relating to the people under new conditions and do the job well. We must consult the people on policies, learn about their needs, and seek suggestions from them. We must listen to their views, truthfully reflect their wishes, help alleviate their hardships, and protect their economic, political, cultural, and social rights and interests in accordance with the law. The people will care about and feel close to the Party only when the Party feels the same toward them. Party and government offices at all levels and their officials should be more community-focused in their work, regularly visit communities, and stay close with the people. In this way, we can learn more about the actual conditions of the people, address their concerns, and give them a warm feeling that we care about them. We should take local communities as a training ground for officials and encourage them to forge closer bonds with the people through daily interactions and become better able to serve them. Serving the people and carrying out people-related work should be pursued as the central task of community-level Party organizations and the basic duties of community-based officials. This will enable community-level Party organizations to play a key role in promoting development, serving the people, increasing public cohesion, and promoting harmony.

To make Party building more scientific under the new historical conditions, we must follow the principle of fighting corruption in a comprehensive way, addressing both its symptoms and root causes, and combining punishment with prevention with emphasis on prevention. We must intensify efforts to improve Party conduct, uphold integrity and combat corruption so as to maintain the advanced nature and integrity of the Party as a Marxist political party.

The growth of the Party over the past 90 years shows that cracking hard on and effectively preventing corruption is crucial in gaining popular support for the Party and ensuring its very survival, and it is therefore a major political task the Party must attend to at all times. The Party is soberly aware of the gravity and danger of corruption that have emerged under the conditions of the Party being long in power as well as the need to combat corruption throughout the course of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization. The Party's unequivocal and consistent opposition to corruption and the steady, notable new progress made in fighting corruption and upholding integrity provide an important guarantee for advancing reform, opening up, and socialist modernization. On the other hand, grave challenges and daunting tasks remain in fighting corruption. If not effectively curbed, corruption will cost the Party the trust and support of the people. The whole Party must remain vigilant against corruption, be fully aware that fighting corruption will be a protracted, complicated and arduous battle, and give higher priority to combating corruption and upholding integrity. The Party must demonstrate greater confidence and resolve and take more forceful measures to improve the institutions for punishing and preventing corruption and unswervingly fight corruption.

Leading officials at all levels must bear in mind that our power is entrusted to us by the people and can only be used in their interests. In exercising power, we must serve the people, hold ourselves accountable to them, and readily subject ourselves to their oversight. We must not turn our power into an instrument for making personal gains for a handful of individuals. Officials at all levels must have a keen sense of living up to the people's trust, guarding against wrong doing, and holding themselves to higher standards. We must act in the true Party spirit, ensure integrity, and play an exemplary role in society. One should not forget his origin when in prominent position; he should not abandon the role of public servants once in public post, or use power for personal gains. We must preserve the political integrity of Communists.