President's address resonates across nation

People express surge of confidence as country celebrates CPC centenary

Chinese people at home and abroad gained confidence and strength from President Xi Jinping's speech on Thursday to strive for higher goals, led by the Communist Party of China.

More than 70,000 people from different walks of life attended a grand gathering in Beijing on Thursday to celebrate the centenary of the Party's founding, while many others watched the live broadcast on TV or online.

Several overseas Chinese who attended the celebration in Tian'anmen Square said they were inspired and moved when the president said that the Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to bully the nation.

"Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people," said Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Wang Jing, president of the federation of overseas Chinese women in Florence, Italy, said: "At that time the audience was warmly applauding and shouting. I was excited and couldn't calm my mood for a long time. Looking back over the past century, the CPC has always put the people at the top. We have seen earthshaking changes in China."

Chen Zhengxi, president of the China General Chamber of Commerce in Italy, said, "I got a surge of emotion when I heard President Xi say the nation will never allow any foreign force to bully it and will firmly realize the reunification of the motherland."

The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind is the contribution of the CPC to the development of the world, he said. "As an overseas Chinese with careers both at home and abroad, I must work hard to put this concept into practice and tell the story of China in the new era to the world," Chen said.

People from different walks of life said they were encouraged by Xi's speech to excel in their respective jobs so as to contribute to the country's future development.

Chen Saijuan, a genetics expert from Shanghai's Ruijin Hospital, attended the ceremony and said she felt lucky to have witnessed the groundbreaking changes that have taken place in the fields of medical science and healthcare.

"A universal medical and health service system and a medical security system covering the largest population in the world were established. The prevention and control levels of major chronic diseases have been continuously improving," she said. "History has proved that without the Party, there would be no such prosperity and strength in China today."

Li Yong, head of Xintiandi police station, located near the site of the First CPC National Congress in downtown Shanghai, said that as instructed by Xi, they will always put the people first. "We will maintain public order, serve the people with a strong work ethic and guard the spiritual home of the CPC resolutely," Li said.

Zhang Zhenxin, an art student at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said she has witnessed the great development of rural areas in the past two years when she was doing a project with her teacher in Zhejiang province.

"As a member of the younger generation, I should serve national construction and rural revitalization with my academic knowledge and devote myself to the great cause of my predecessors," Zhang said.