Party's highest honor to be awarded to outstanding members by Xi Jinping

A series of events will be held to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China this year, including a grand celebration in the name of the CPC Central Committee at which General Secretary Xi Jinping will make an important speech, a senior Party official said on Tuesday.

Other activities include conducting Party history education, organizing exhibitions and galas, issuing literature, artworks and publications, holding seminars on theoretical study and carrying out Party-themed publicity activities, said Wang Xiaohui, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

"Born amid internal and external troubles and developed in hardships, the CPC has led the Chinese people on a great path in the development history of the Chinese nation and the progress of human civilization," Wang said.

Wang said it's important to review the journey taken by the Party and the people, sum up the glorious achievements and experiences over the past century, and display the historic achievements and changes in the new era under the leadership of General Secretary Xi by holding the activities to celebrate the CPC's 100th anniversary.

"It will encourage and mobilize the entire Party, the military and the people of all ethnic groups to rally more closely around the central leadership with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and embark with full confidence on the new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects," he said.

Wang said that over the past 100 years, the CPC has evolved from a small party with only around 50 members to the largest Marxist ruling party, with more than 91 million members.

As of the end of 2019, the CPC had 4.68 million primary-level organizations with a total of 91.91 million members, according to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

To honor outstanding Party members, exemplary Party workers and advanced community-level Party organizations, some awards for Party members will be given for the first time. The July 1 Medal, the Party's highest honor, will be awarded to outstanding Party members before July 1 by General Secretary Xi.

To show love and caring to elderly Party members, the CPC will also honor its members with five decades of Party membership with memorial medals this year for the first time, according to Wang.

About 7.1 million people who have been Party members for 50 years or longer as of July 1 this year and have consistently performed well in their roles will receive the medals, said Fu Xingguo, deputy head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

"It will help strengthen Party members' sense of honor, belonging and mission, encourage generations of Party members to continue to work hard, and gather the strength of the whole Party to realize the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035," Fu said.

Targeting young people is a priority in education about the history of the country and the Party, and methods include adding Party history to textbooks and classroom curricula, and organizing study tours and social research activities, according to Wang.

Activities will be organized to visit Party members living with difficulties, the families of martyrs and Party officials who died in the line of duty, he said, adding that the celebratory activities will be combined with efforts to improve people's lives and focus on vulnerable groups and prominent and specific problems.

Zhao Xinying contributed to this story.