Steadfast commitment to the mission: the Party’s century-long struggle has been to seek happiness for the people
On the afternoon of June 8, 2021, during a tour of Qinghai Province, Xi Jinping visited the home of local herdsman Sonam Tsering in the village of Golog Tsang Gongma in Gangcha County, Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. He took a close look around the home both inside and out, then sat and chatted with the family in their living room. Sonam Tsering told Xi with emotion that the good lives enjoyed by the herders were all owed to the effective policies of the Party, and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Party and to the General Secretary. Xi Jinping then said, “Our Party is now 100 years old. For it to grow and expand, win over the political power of the country, and build a new China has been no easy feat. Why do ordinary people give the CPC their wholehearted support? Because our Party wholeheartedly serves the people and seeks happiness for all ethnic groups.”
Since the very day of its founding, the Party has made seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation its aspiration and mission. It has stamped the word “people” at the center of its consciousness, featured the pledge to uphold the interests of the people above all else prominently on its banner, and sought happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation with steadfast commitment. At the Second National Congress of the CPC held in 1922, it was clearly stated that the CPC is a Party “composed of the proletarians with the most revolutionary spirit which fights for the interests of the proletariat.” Xi Jinping has said, “Being of one heart with the people, breathing the same breath as them, sharing the same future, and staying truly connected to them is what the Party has always and will always aspire to.”
Many years ago during the struggle in the Jinggang Mountains, the Red Army did not have enough salt as a result of ruthless enemy blockades. After he saw an old man swaying as he walked due to a lack of salt, Marshal Zhu De, though knowing that supplies were also extremely tight among the troops, ordered a soldier to deliver to the old man one of the few bags of salt that had been captured from an enemy position. He insisted, “As long as the Red Army has it, there will be salt for the ordinary people.” At the Second National Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers on January 27, 1934, Mao Zedong said, “We must pay close attention to the problems that the people face in their lives, from issues involving land and labor to those related to daily necessities.” At a funeral ceremony for the soldier Zhang Side on September 8, 1944, Mao Zedong declared, “Our army works solely for the purpose of liberating the people and serving their interests.” On many occasions, Xi Jinping has related the “half a quilt” story once told by an elderly woman named Xu Jiexiu, who said, “What is the CPC? The CPC is made up of people who would take their only quilt and cut it in half to share it with an ordinary person like me.” After an incredible century-long journey, the Party remains unshakeable in its original aspiration. From the old shikumen house on Xingye Road in Shanghai where it held its first congress to the gate tower over Tiananmen where the founding of the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed and China embarked on the road to rejuvenation, and in all its endeavors as it has moved from a new period to a new century, a new starting point, and to a new era, everything the Party has done and all the sacrifices it has made have been for the people.
On November 15, 2012, the newly elected Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee held a press conference attended by more than 500 Chinese and foreign journalists at the Great Hall of the People. It was at that moment, with the eyes of the world upon him, that Xi Jinping declared, “The people yearn for a better life, and our goal is to help them achieve it.” He stressed this point again five years later on October 25, 2017 at a press conference for the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee, saying, “The aspirations of the people to live a better life must always be the focus of our efforts.”
The pursuit of a better life is an eternal theme, and a process that is always in motion. Xi Jinping has stated, “We have a grand yet simple goal – a better life for all our people.” At present, the principal challenge facing Chinese society has evolved into that between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s growing needs for a better life. As a result, we have shifted focus from the previous problem of want to the present problem of quality. Xi Jinping has stressed that we must ground ourselves in this new stage of development, implement the new development philosophy, and foster a new development dynamic as we strive to boost the quality and returns of development, better meet the growing needs of the people on multiple different levels, and take more effective steps in promoting well-rounded human development and common prosperity for all.
Xi Jinping delivered an earnest and impactful speech at the ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC, in which he said, “Though our Party’s founding mission is easy to define, ensuring that we stay true to this mission is a more difficult task. By learning from history, we can understand why powers rise and fall. Through the mirror of history, we can find where we currently stand and gain foresight into the future. Looking back on the Party’s 100-year history, we can see why we were successful in the past and how we can continue to succeed in the future. This will ensure that we act with greater resolve and purpose in staying true to our founding mission and pursuing a better future on the new journey that lies before us.”
