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Alcott Wei

Amber Wang

A year ahead of a major leadership reshuffle, President Xi Jinping has projected strong confidence in the Communist Party’s governance at home and abroad, sending a rallying call to members to remain disciplined and focused amid fast-changing global headwinds.
In a major speech marking the organisation’s 105th anniversary, Xi hailed China’s Communist Party as the world’s biggest ruling party, saying it had “significant global influence” and the “genuine support of the people”.
While it is customary for the party chief to tout past achievements – which have transformed China from a struggling nation into a global superpower – this year’s tone was noticeably more confident than Xi’s previous anniversary addresses.
He stressed that the party’s success had fundamentally reshaped global development, offering a new model for other developing nations.
“The Chinese people under the party’s leadership have created a new form of civilisation and broadened the pathways to modernisation for other developing nations,” Xi said, in an anniversary address given once every five years.
“We are promoting the building of an international community with a shared destiny … Socialist China under the party leadership is now universally recognised as a stabiliser of world peace, a contributor to global growth, and a defender of the international order.”


This display of confidence comes at a time of rising international volatility. Last year, there were 65 armed conflicts involving nation-states either on one side or both – the highest number since World War II, according to a study by Sweden’s Uppsala University.
Major conflicts, including those between Ukraine and Russia, as well as the one between the United States and Iran, are unresolved.
Against this turbulent backdrop, Xi warned party members to stay vigilant and prepare for coming challenges, noting that China must be ready to weather “high winds and rough waves” – a phrase he employs frequently to describe potential economic, political, and security crises.
To withstand these pressures, Xi said, the party must remain disciplined, focused and “resolutely eliminate all factors that undermine the party’s purity” – a clear nod to ongoing anti-corruption campaigns and demands for absolute political loyalty.
At the same time, Xi urged officials to remain flexible and creative, anticipating risks through a scientific analysis of complex global realities.
“We must dare to [confront hard problems] and be good at it,” he said. “No matter how powerful our adversary is and how severe the challenges are, we must never be intimidated or retreat … With an iron will, we can weather any storm.”
Citing the ancient Chinese classic, the Book of Documents, Xi reminded members that “great achievements require lofty ambitions, and great undertakings require diligent effort”.
The address was delivered during a grand ceremony at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, where Xi presented July 1 Medals to eight individuals recognised for their outstanding contributions to the party.
The recipients included military veterans, weapons experts and grass-roots civil servants involved in poverty alleviation and community work. This honour, the party’s highest individual distinction, was first awarded to 29 members in 2021, during the party’s centenary celebration.
The event comes at a critical political moment. The party has already begun preparations for next year’s national party congress, a five-yearly event that will unveil a new leadership line-up and is widely expected to endorse another five-year term for Xi as party leader.
Turning to defence, Xi called for accelerated military modernisation, urging the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to achieve its centenary goals by August 1, 2027, while pushing towards the broader target of building a “world-class” military by 2050.
He stressed the need for “comprehensively advancing the political building of the military” and “governing the armed forces according to law” – slogans tied closely to Beijing’s aggressive anti-corruption drive within the military.


This focus follows a crackdown within the PLA that has seen a string of high-ranking generals removed, including five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission, China’s top military decision-making body.
On the sensitive issue of Taiwan, Xi repeated Beijing’s long-standing position, but notably without signalling any immediate urgency.
“Resolving the Taiwan question and realising the complete reunification of the motherland is the unswerving historical mission of our party and the shared aspiration of all Chinese people,” he said.
While pledging to “resolutely crack down on Taiwan independence separatist forces, oppose interference by external forces, and steadfastly advance the great cause of national reunification”, Xi also called for deeper cross-strait exchanges, economic cooperation and integrated development.
Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reclaimed, by force if necessary. While most countries, including the United States, do not recognise the self-ruled island as an independent state, they remain strongly opposed to any unilateral change to the status quo by force.
Xi also paid tribute to his predecessors – Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao – praising their “historic contributions to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”.
While past Western military assessments have closely linked the PLA’s 2027 modernisation timeline to a potential cross-strait conflict, analysts noted the measured tone of the address.
Zhu Songling, a professor at Beijing Union University’s Institute of Taiwan Studies, said the speech signalled a “steady” push towards Taiwan rather than an accelerated timeline.
The remarks indicated that Beijing would continue to pursue reunification at its own established pace, focused on systematically building the necessary political, economic, and international conditions over time, Zhu said.
Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at Tsinghua University’s National Institute of Strategic Studies, noted that Xi’s speech signalled confidence at a time of intensifying China-US competition.
“The United States is certainly unwilling to accept being surpassed by China, which drives its various forms of containment against Beijing,” Xie said.
“However, China-US relations have now reached a stage of strategic stability, which essentially means the power dynamic between the two nations is becoming roughly evenly matched.”


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On the 105th anniversary of the ruling party’s founding, Xi Jinping also warns members to stay vigilant and prepare for challenges


On the 105th anniversary of the ruling party’s founding, Xi Jinping also warns members to stay vigilant and prepare for challenges.


A model for other states? China’s Xi lauds Communist Party’s global influence

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}On the 105th anniversary of the ruling party’s founding, Xi Jinping also warns members to stay vigilant and prepare for challenges

On the 105th anniversary of the ruling party’s founding, Xi Jinping also warns members to stay vigilant and prepare for challenges