China's Xi urges Communist Party to adapt, safeguard progress

President Xi Jinping called on China's ruling Communist Party to remain adaptable and safeguard its progress during celebrations for its 105th founding anniversary. Speaking at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Xi, the party's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, stressed the need to keep pace with changing circumstances.

While Xi did not specify particular challenges, observers note that China's slowing economic growth and declining demographics present significant hurdles for the world's second-largest economy. "China's development is currently in a period where strategic opportunities, and risks and challenges, coexist," Xi stated. He also called for improved coordination within the party to address both domestic and international issues.

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China's development is currently in a period where strategic opportunities, and risks and challenges, coexist.

Facing external pressures, including Western curbs on advanced technology and strained trade relations with the United States, Chinese leaders view strengthening their control over society as a critical task. The Communist Party, founded with a few dozen members in 1921, now boasts over 100 million members. Its stated ambition is to transform from the world's largest political party into its most powerful.

Xi urged party members to eliminate elements detrimental to its advancement and "purity," likening them to "viruses that erode the party's healthy body." Since assuming power in 2012, Xi has consolidated the party's authority, demanded unwavering loyalty, and expanded China's global influence. He has also led a sweeping anti-corruption campaign, investigating and purging millions of officials and top generals.

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all viruses that erode the party's healthy body