At 10 a.m. on 6 September, 2021, deputy Party secretary of the Open University of China (OUC) Liu Chen delivered a speech entitled “Political Manifesto of the Grand CPC Party to Realise the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation” at the opening of the first class of the new semester via live video broadcast to all the teachers and students of the OUC system.
The speech marked the start of a new journey for the autumn semester in the study and implementation of the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech on 1 July.
Liu pointed out that Xi’s speech has a broad vision, covering the past, present, and future, and comprehensively reviewing the great path, great cause, and great achievements of the CPC and the Chinese people over the past 100 years to realise the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The speech, covering a global outlook and methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, is a Marxist programmatic document. Furthermore, it is a political manifesto and action plan to motivate the CPC and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to strive for the second centenary goal. It is the CPC’s important theoretical innovation and has very political, historical, and realistic significance. Liu Chen communicated with teachers and students of the OUC from four perspectives including far-reaching significance, great achievements, great call, and ardent hope, and shared his experience and gains from learning the important speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping on 1 July.
Liu stressed the far-reaching significance of studying General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech delivered at the Ceremony Marking the Centenary of the Communist Party of China. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s remarks have deepened our understanding of the historical logic and significance of the founding of the CPC; the glorious course and great achievements of the CPC's centennial struggle; the valuable experience and fundamental requirements of the CPC's centennial struggle; and the significance of completing the construction of a moderately prosperous society and smoothly realising the first centenary goal. Generations of Chinese communists have upheld the great spirit of the founding of the CPC and have made great achievements in building a well-off society, achieved the first centenary goal, ushered in a great leap from starting from the scratch to getting rich and getting strong, exploring the connotation of the “Nine Requirements” for success (1.We must uphold the firm leadership of the Party. China’s success hinges on the Party. 2.We must unite and lead the Chinese people in working ceaselessly for a better life. 3.We must continue to adapt Marxism to the Chinese context. 4.We must uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics. 5. We must accelerate the modernisation of national defence and the armed forces. 6. We must continue working to promote the building of a human community with a shared future. 7. We must carry out a great struggle with many contemporary features. 8. We must strengthen the great unity of the Chinese people. 9. We must continue to advance the great new project of Party building). All the teachers and students of the OUC should continue to carry forward the glorious tradition of the CPC, inherit its red revolutionary spirit, and adhere to the great spirit of its founding to keep the spirit alive.
Liu said that General Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech on 1 July called on all CPC members to embark on a new road to achieve the second Centenary Goal, calling for unremitting efforts to make China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful. We should fully understand and systematically establish important innovation points and key points that the “Nine Requirements” embodies. He briefly analysed the CPC’s insistence on integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s actual situation and traditional Chinese culture. We should put the people at the centre and develop people’s democracy throughout the whole process. CPC members have created a new path for Chinese-style modernisation and a new form of human civilisation, and have joined hands with progressive forces to build a community with a shared future for mankind. Their strong spiritual power comes for their daring to struggle and win.
Liu pointed out that General Secretary Xi Jinping has great hope for the youth, and has repeatedly stressed issues related to the youth and showed great concerns to the work of the young, pointing out a direction for the growth of our young generation. The students of the OUC have been born into a prosperous era. They have overcome the contradiction between work and study and given up their rest time to study at the OUC. They should constantly improve their political literacy, enrich their professional knowledge, improve their job skills, and become qualified builders and successors of socialism. They should aspire to work “for heaven and earth, for the people, for the saints of the past to continue learning, and for the future generations to safeguard world peace.” Finally, Liu Chen called on the teachers and students of the OUC to make the study and implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech an important political task, fully understand and deeply grasp the essence of the speech, to associate the speech with social reality, work, life, and study, and to keep it in mind and put it into action to achieve success.
The OUC headquarters, branches, and schools organised for teachers and students to watch the first class online through multiple online channels. A total of 790,000 people watched the live broadcast. After the class, teachers and students from all over the country exchanged their feelings in various ways and gave enthusiastic feedback. They all said that they would earnestly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech and make unremitting efforts to realise the second Centenary Goal. The teachers of the OUC said that the first class has increased cohesion, enhanced their ambition and confidence as Chinese people, and inspired them to work harder to contribute to the construction of their motherland. Students from all over the country said that as young people in the new era, they should love their motherland, be loyal to the motherland and her people, and be determined patriots and strugglers.
By Zhou Mingkun, OUC