BEIJING: Reading books, watching documentaries, tuning in to APP-based programs — 91 million members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are diving into the Party’s history.
These are the scenes of an educational campaign launched by the Party leadership as part of the events to mark the CPC’s centenary in 2021.
The campaign on Party history learning and education is so important that President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended its launch and issued specific requirements.
Why does the study of history matter so much to the world’s biggest Marxist ruling party, and what does it mean to do this at the Party’s centenary?
The past, present and future are linked. Looking into the past helps one deal with issues today and be better prepared for the future.
Following the Opium Wars in the mid-19th century, China was laid to waste and the people were plunged into misery by repeated foreign aggressions and internal conflicts.
Since then, rejuvenating the nation has been the greatest dream of the Chinese people, for which countless patriots have fought and sacrificed their lives.
When founded in 1921, the CPC made it the Party’s founding mission to seek happiness for the Chinese people and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Under the CPC leadership over the course of several decades, the once impoverished country has emerged as the world’s second-largest economy and built a well-off society with the world’s largest middle-income population.
“No matter how far we have traveled… we shall never forget the past, and never forget why we started our journey in the first place,” Xi told his fellow CPC members, urging them, again and again, to stay true to the Party’s founding mission.
In 2021, China announced success in ending extreme poverty and historic achievements in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. –Agencies