The Chinese Communist Party and government held a commemoration for the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March victory at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Huanqiu.com said President Xi Jinping spoke about the march's historical meaning and the tasks ahead.
According to Huanqiu.com, the gathering began at 10 a.m. on October 22 at the Great Hall of the People. Zhao Leji, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided, leading the national anthem and the closing summary. The stage carried the dates ‘1936-2026’ and was flanked by ten red flags.
광고 문의 · 300×250Attendees included Standing Committee members Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, along with Vice President Han Zheng, Politburo members and Central Military Commission vice chairmen. Roughly 3,000 people took part, among them officials, representatives of other parties, veterans, PLA and armed police personnel and Beijing residents, Huanqiu said.
Historical framing in the speech
Xi opened by paying tribute to Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and other first-generation leaders, to Red Army fighters and to communities that supported the march. He then proposed a moment of silence for those who died during the march and in revolutionary struggles elsewhere, a scene Huanqiu also covered in a video.
The speech outlined the period from October 1934 to October 1936, when the First, Second and Fourth Front Armies and the 25th Army crossed more than ten provinces. Xi called it a turning point of the Chinese revolution and cited correct Party leadership, revolutionary will, seeking truth from facts and close ties with the public as reasons for success, per Huanqiu. This is the official Chinese account; historians hold a range of assessments.
Tasks ahead
Xi went on to say that the new journey is a ‘new Long March’ for the Party and the people, and set out five requirements: holding to Party ideals, high-quality development and common prosperity, balancing development with security, military modernization and stronger Party building. Huanqiu linked these to the second centenary goal of building a modern socialist country.
Zhao urged study and implementation of the speech in his closing remarks, and the meeting ended with ‘The Internationale’. This report relies on Chinese state media such as Huanqiu, and we could not independently verify the full text of the speech or any follow-up measures.