A ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 10, 2022. Photo: Xinhua

 Marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, delivered a speech at a ceremony held in Beijing on Tuesday morning. Xi called on the CYLC members in the new era to build up firm beliefs and boost their courage and skills to carry out struggles, among others.

In 2021, the country celebrated the 100th anniversary of the CPC's founding, and this year, before the 20th National Congress of the CPC scheduled to be held later this year, Tuesday's event to mark the centennial of the CYLC's founding is of historic significance, said experts. They noted that the CPC is sending a message and expectations to generations of the future, to carry on the red journey made by their predecessors in the past century and realize rejuvenation for the whole nation in the middle of this century.

Xi said that celebrating the centennial of the CYLC is to "encourage its members to forge ahead on the new journey to realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation."

Analysts said Xi's speech highlights the importance of the CYLC as a "school" to train talents for the CPC and guide Chinese youth, and this explains the key reason why the CPC can maintain its vigor and has gained endless young bloods in the past century. The CPC has a solid and mature echelon training system that consists of the Young Pioneers of China (YPC), the CYLC and the CPC, and this is also the reason why the Party can always cover and guide the people of all generations, to keep the whole country well organized to overcome challenges and achieve great goals. 

CYLC's role

During his speech, Xi stressed the history and significance of the CYLC as the bridge between the CPC and the young Chinese people, nodded to the youth of China's new era, and raised eager expectations for them. 

The CYLC, founded on May 5, 1922 under the direct leadership of the CPC, is a milestone in the history of the Chinese revolution and the history of youth movements, Xi said. 

Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Peking University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that "the world is now experiencing a profound change which had never been seen in the past century, and China is also facing a complicated and uncertain international environment. The Party has placed the role of Chinese youth in a very important position for China's future development."

The Party and the country have a great plan to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the middle of this century, and today's Chinese youth, who will be middle-aged by the 2050s, will be the backbone and leading force in all industries and sectors. They are the generation that is destined to accomplish this historic mission by their own hands, and this is a key reason why the CPC highly values its work related to the youth today, said analysts. 

Xi said the hopes of the CPC and the country rest on the youth. For the Party and the country, youth are the most worthy of love and expectation, he said, noting that "young people are like saplings that thrive on the earth, and one day they will grow into towering trees."

Shen Yi, a professor at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the Chinese youth today have many unique advantages and characteristics compared to their counterparts worldwide and their predecessors in China, and this offers an optimistic future for the country.

First, they enjoy the best material basis in a century that was accumulated by previous generations in the past 100 years. Second, they have a special understanding and expectation for China's position in the international arena or the relations between China and the world, so they are more ambitious and confident. Third, because they are living and growing in an era of the nation's fast development and great successes in many fields, they are able to confidently explore the development model for the country based on the characteristics of their times, Shen noted. 

Xi said in his speech that the CYLC is a school for young people to understand socialism with Chinese characteristics and communism in practice, adding that the league should help them aim high at an early age and cultivate trust in the CPC, in socialism with Chinese characteristics and in Marxism from the bottom of their hearts.

Shen said, "The CYLC needs to answer questions from the youth and effectively help them solve their problems and concerns. The young people are always full of passion and potential, but they need to be guided and encouraged by faith and ideas. This is what the CYLC can offer."

Xi told the CYLC to shoulder its responsibilities and always be a vanguard force in mobilizing China's youth in continuous endeavor.

Chinese youth File Photo: CFP

 

Echelon formation

The reason the CPC can always have endless young bloods from the people and keep vigor at all time and cover the people of all ages to unite and organize the whole country to win tough fights and achieve great goals is that the Party has a mature "echelon formation" that keeps the whole nation effectively represented and following the Party's leadership, said the experts.  

Xi said that joining the YPC, the CYLC and the CPC is the "trilogy of life" of the Chinese youth if they want to seek political advances. "The CPC always opens its door to young people and warmly welcomes them to become the fresh blood of the Party," he remarked.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, a youth survey conducted in 2020 showed that the majority of China's youth wholeheartedly support socialism with Chinese characteristics, and are full of confidence when it comes to achieving the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

"A successful organization or political party will cover groups of all ages, and it will build platforms and stages for children and teenagers to let them grow and get trained and to be united under its core ideology, and the basis of its governance will be ageless," Shen noted. 

Original aspiration

"The original aspiration and mission of the CYLC is to follow the CPC's leadership, fight for the people and the Party," Xi said in his speech. Xi urged the CYLC members in the new era to build up firm beliefs, to boost their courage and skills to carry out struggles, and to be patriotic and innovative. 

The cause of the Party and the people entails endeavors and devotion by generations of young people, Xi said, stressing that young people should devote their youth to great undertakings of the Party and the people.

Praising the youth of China in the new era, Xi said that the CYLC members have taken up responsibility and contributed to the Party's and country's historic achievements.

"My pure love is only for China" - the fighting slogan written by 18-year-old Chen Xiangrong, one of the four young Chinese martyrs who died in 2020 in a clash with the Indian military in the Galwan Valley - has become the strongest voice and greatest dream and mission of contemporary Chinese youth, Xi said. 

Patriotism is the biggest common ground shared by the Chinese people, including Chinese youth, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is a goal that can effectively move and inspire the majority of Chinese people, including the youth, said analysts. 

At a time when the world is complex and constantly changing, although the young generation can possess a variety of life forms and choices, ultimately responding to the call of national and social development should be their overall goal, Zhang said. 

"Only by being closely linked to the future of the country and integrating personal values with social values can they ultimately contribute to the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," Zhang said.