On the morning of September 14, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) held a grand ceremony at the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the NPC. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the meeting and delivered an important speech. He emphasized the need to further strengthen confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture, develop whole-process people's democracy, uphold, improve, and operate the system of the NPC, and provide a solid institutional guarantee for achieving the goals of the Party and the people in the new era and on the new journey.

Li Qiang, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, and Li Xi, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and Han Zheng, Vice President of the People's Republic of China, attended the meeting. Zhao Leji, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the meeting.

The meeting began with the playing of the national anthem. Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. He pointed out that the system of the NPC is the result of the arduous exploration and long struggle of the CPC leading the Chinese people, a new political system that has grown from Chinese soil, and a great creation in the history of human political systems. The establishment of the NPC system signifies a great leap in Chinese politics, from a system where power was held by a few and the vast majority were oppressed and exploited to one where the CPC leads and the people are masters of their own house, representing a great transformation in China's political system.

Xi Jinping stressed that over the past 70 years, under the leadership of the Party, the NPC system has effectively ensured that China has always followed the socialist path. It has demonstrated significant political advantages in ensuring that the Party leads the people in governing the country effectively according to law, safeguarding the people's status as masters of their own house, ensuring that national political life is both vibrant and orderly, achieving the rule of law in all aspects of national work, and ensuring long-term peace and stability in the country. It has provided important institutional guarantees for creating the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability. Practice has proved that the NPC system is a good system that conforms to China's national conditions and realities and reflects the nature of a socialist state, and it is a good system that can effectively unite the strength of all the people to promote Chinese-style modernization.

Xi Jinping pointed out that since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party, based on its new historical position, has profoundly grasped the new changes in the main contradictions of Chinese society, actively responded to the new demands and expectations of the people for democracy and the rule of law, improved the organizational and working systems of the NPC, and promoted historical achievements in the work of the NPC. We adhere to the integration of the fundamental principles of Marxism with China's specific realities and with excellent traditional Chinese culture, profoundly grasp the laws governing the development of socialist democracy, and continuously promote innovation in the theory and practice of the NPC system. He emphasized that the NPC system is an important institutional carrier for realizing China's whole-process people's democracy. It must uphold the leadership of the CPC, use the system to guarantee the people's status as masters of their own house, uphold the rule of law, uphold democratic centralism, uphold the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, uphold the modernization of the national governance system and capacity, uphold the full play of the role of NPC deputies, and uphold the strengthening of NPC construction at all levels according to the requirements of "four organs". This series of new concepts, ideas, and requirements has formed the Party's important thinking on upholding and improving the NPC system, providing a fundamental guideline for promoting high-quality development of NPC work in the new era.

Xi Jinping stressed the need to fully leverage the important role of the NPC in ensuring the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Constitution and laws. The NPC and its Standing Committees at all levels should fully play their role in resolutely upholding the unity, dignity, and authority of the national legal system, ensuring the effective implementation of the Constitution and laws, and ensuring that all state organs perform their duties and conduct their work within the framework of the Constitution and laws.

Xi Jinping pointed out the need to fully leverage the leading role of the NPC in legislative work. Uphold and improve the legislative work pattern of Party committee leadership, NPC leadership, government reliance, and participation from all parties, strengthen legislation in key areas, emerging fields, and foreign-related areas, improve the quality of legislation, and continuously improve the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. Accelerate the improvement of legal systems that embody fairness in rights, opportunities, and rules, and guarantee the effective implementation of citizens' rights.

Xi Jinping stressed the need to fully leverage the important role of NPC supervision in the Party and state supervision system. Improve the NPC's supervision system over "one government, one commission, two courts," strengthen supervision over the implementation of the Constitution and laws, strengthen the NPC's review and supervision of budgets and final accounts, and supervision of state-owned asset management and government debt management, promote the implementation of the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee, ensure that state organs exercise their powers according to law, and ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of the people are protected and realized. Administrative organs, supervisory organs, judicial organs, and procuratorial organs at all levels should consciously accept NPC supervision and effectively perform their respective supervisory duties.

Xi Jinping pointed out the need to fully leverage the leading role of the NPC in maintaining close ties with the people. All state organs and state functionaries must firmly establish the consciousness of being public servants, placing the people in the highest position in their hearts, and maintaining close ties with the people. NPC deputies bear the glorious responsibilities entrusted to them by the people, and should faithfully represent the interests and will of the people and serve as a bridge between the Party and the state and the people. State organs at all levels should support and guarantee the lawful performance of duties by NPC deputies, improve the institutional mechanisms for contacting deputies, and enrich the content and forms of NPC deputies' contact with the people.

Xi Jinping stressed that Party committees at all levels should strengthen their overall leadership over the work of the NPC and support the NPC and its Standing Committees in exercising their powers and conducting their work according to law. The Party groups of the NPC Standing Committees at all levels should always uphold the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, implement the main responsibility for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, and in accordance with the requirements of "four organs," effectively strengthen the political, ideological, organizational, style, and disciplinary construction of NPC organs, building a team of NPC workers who are politically firm, serve the people, respect the rule of law, promote democracy, and diligently perform their duties, and continuously improve the quality and level of NPC work in the new era and on the new journey.

In presiding over the meeting, Zhao Leji pointed out that General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech reviewed the glorious course of the CPC leading the Chinese people in establishing and improving the NPC system, profoundly expounded on the significant political advantages of the NPC system, systematically summarized the major achievements of the theoretical and practical innovation of the NPC system in the new era, and made comprehensive deployments and put forward clear requirements for upholding, improving, and operating the NPC system at a new historical starting point. The speech is far-sighted and inspiring, enriching and developing General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thoughts on upholding and improving the NPC system, and is a programmatic document shining with the brilliance of Marxist truth. We must earnestly study and understand it and resolutely implement it. We must deeply understand the decisive significance of the "two establishes," consciously achieve the "two safeguards," unswervingly follow the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, and uphold, improve, and operate the NPC system.

Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, vice chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee, state councilors, the president of the Supreme People's Court, the procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, some vice chairmen of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, veteran comrades who have served as leaders of the NPC Standing Committee, and members of the Central Military Commission attended the meeting.

About 3,000 people attended the meeting, including principal officials of central Party, government, military, and mass organizations and of Beijing Municipality; leaders of the central committees of the various democratic parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and representatives of non-Party personages; members of the NPC Standing Committee and members of the various specialized committees of the NPC; responsible comrades of the NPC Standing Committees of various provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and some vice-provincial level cities; some NPC deputies; representatives from all walks of life in the capital; and foreign ambassadors to China.