The  Central Conference on United Front Work was held from Friday to  Saturday in Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general  secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and  chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended and delivered an  important speech.

In his  remarks, Xi stressed that this year marks the centenary of the CPC's  clear identification of its united front policy. It is imperative that  we continue to ensure the patriotic united front develops in the right  direction and accurately understand its historic position in the new  era.

Xi defined the main  tasks of the patriotic united front in the new era as follows: to  follow the guidance of the Thought on Socialism with Chinese  Characteristics for a New Era and uphold the CPC's leadership; to adhere  to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and hold high the  great banner of patriotism and socialism; to balance commonality and  diversity, focus on the central task of economic development and serve  the overall interests of the country; to advance with the times and  innovate on the basis of what has worked in the past; to strengthen  theoretical and political guidance, and fulfill the political function  of gathering support and pooling strength; to promote harmony between  different political parties, ethnic groups, religions, social strata, as  well as our compatriots at home and abroad; to promote concerted  endeavor of Chinese people at home and abroad and bring together  powerful strength for building China into a great modern socialist  country in all respects and achieving the great rejuvenation of the  Chinese nation.

Li  Keqiang presided over the conference. Li Zhanshu, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji  and Han Zheng attended the conference. Wang Yang delivered concluding  remarks.

Xi noted in his  speech that the united front, as an important part of the Party's  general line and general policy, has played a significant role in the  different historical periods of China's revolution, construction and  reform. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the Party has  implemented the national rejuvenation strategy within the wider context  of once-in-a-century changes taking place in the world, and made  comprehensive arrangements for united front work from the strategic  perspective of national governance. Thus, we have made historic progress  in united front work, with the united front demonstrating greater  solidarity and dynamism while forging ahead to open up new horizons.

Xi  stressed that we have developed, through practice, important thoughts  on advancing the Party's united front work in the new era and put  forward a series of new concepts, ideas and strategies to improve united  front work. These mainly include the following twelve aspects: we must  give full play to the role of the united front as an important means; we  must secure support of the people and pool strength for our cause; we  must strike the right balance between commonality and diversity; we must  uphold, develop and improve China's new model of political party  system; we must make fostering a strong sense of community for the  Chinese nation the main task in the Party's work related to ethnic  affairs; we must develop religions in the Chinese context; we must  foster close bonds with non-CPC intellectuals and personages from new  social strata; we must facilitate the healthy growth of the non-public  sector of the economy and encourage those working in this sector to  achieve success; we must exert the role of united front work to win  hearts and minds of people in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well as  overseas Chinese; we must strengthen the ranks of non-CPC representative  figures; we must grasp the laws governing united front work; and we  must enhance the Party's overall leadership over united front work.

The  important ideas on improving the Party's united front work in the new  era represent a crystallization of the Party's wisdom in developing the  united front over the past century and serve as the fundamental  guidelines for united front work in the new era. The whole Party must  implement them fully and faithfully, Xi said.

Xi  noted that the united front must be maintained for a long time to come  as it is an important assurance for the CPC to defeat the enemy, to  govern and rejuvenate the country, and to rally all Chinese people both  at home and abroad to realize national rejuvenation. Gaining people's  support and an advantage in strength is vital to the success of the  cause of the Party and the people, and represents the number one  consideration in politics. Great unity and solidarity are what united  front work tries to achieve as it is essentially about winning people's  support and pooling strength. To achieve this, it is crucial that we  stay committed to the principle of seeking common ground while putting  aside differences, carry on the fine tradition of remaining united while  staying open to criticism, seek commonality while respecting diversity,  and as a result, expand common ground and achieve the greatest possible  convergence of interests.

The  CPC leadership over all aspects of united front work must be secured.  United front affairs are the work of the entire Party, which requires  close attention and concerted efforts of all Party members. Efforts must  be made to establish a pattern of united front work, with Party  committees exercising unified leadership, united front departments being  responsible for coordination and other relevant departments performing  their respective duties.

Xi  stressed that great changes have taken place in terms of the  opportunities and circumstances united front work faces as well as the  missions and tasks it shoulders. As profound changes unseen in a century  are evolving rapidly in the world, the united front plays an even more  important role in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and  development interests. On our journey to build a modern socialist  country in all respects and realize national rejuvenation, the united  front plays an even more prominent role in focusing on the central task  and serving the country's overall interests. As the structure of our  society is undergoing a profound change, the united front plays an even  more important role in bolstering the Party's class foundation and  expanding public support for it. We must thoroughly understand the  significance of developing and expanding the patriotic united front in  the new era and effectively perform our duties with a strong sense of  mission and responsibility.

The  united front was created for the purpose of achieving solidarity, on  the basis of which it has thrived, said Xi. The historic task of the  patriotic united front in the new era is to promote great solidarity of  all Chinese people. He said that to fulfill this task, we must balance  our efforts to uphold the Party's leadership and to expand consensus,  making tireless efforts to achieve the latter and effectively uniting  all the Chinese people from different political parties, ethnic groups,  social strata, social groups, with different beliefs and even living  under different social systems. We must strike a balance between making  obvious achievements and those that are substantial but less obvious, so  as to uphold a right perspective on officials' performance and advance  the Party's united front work steadily into the future. We need to  balance principle and flexibility, abiding by principled guidelines and  policies while adopting flexible measures and solutions when necessary.  While taking a firm political stance and adhering to basic political  principles, we should also adopt proper approaches and methods in line  with specific cases. We should balance solidarity and struggle, being  adept in carrying out struggle and improving our ability in this regard  to strive for genuine solidarity that is indestructible.

Xi  emphasized that since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party  Central Committee has attached great importance to united front work  from an overall and strategic perspective. A series of significant laws  and regulations have been promulgated and several important meetings  have been convened, such as the Central Tibet Work Symposium, the  Central Xinjiang Work Symposium, the Central Ethnic Affairs Conference,  and the National Religious Work Conference. Specific requirements were  put forward and comprehensive arrangements made for improving the  Party's work related to ethnic and religious affairs in the new era, and  these requirements and arrangements must be fully implemented. Xi noted  that we must uphold and improve the CPC-led system of multi-party  cooperation and political consultation, calling for efforts to uphold  the Party's leadership, strengthen political guidance and improve  systems and mechanisms so as to make such cooperation rule-based,  orderly and vibrant in the new era.

We  should strengthen united front work on non-CPC intellectuals and  personages from new social strata. With the fundamental focus on  building consensus and the aim of instilling love for the country and an  enterprising spirit, we will encourage them to strive for success in  their careers and make the best of their talent by devoting themselves  to reform and innovation. We should also promote the healthy development  of the private sector and encourage those working in the sector to  achieve success. We need to help them to develop firm ideals and  convictions and uphold core socialist values, to put into practice the  new development philosophy and to nurture an entrepreneurial spirit, so  that they become qualified builders of socialism with Chinese  characteristics. Efforts should be made to strengthen the ranks of  patriots overseas, and help more foreigners understand and become  friendly to China, so as to boost exchanges and mutual learning between  Chinese and foreign cultures. We should also do a good job in united  front work online and practice the mass line through the Internet, Xi  said.

Xi noted that to  strengthen united front work in the new era, it is crucial to uphold the  Party's leadership, so that the entire Party make concerted efforts and  all relevant sectors act in a coordinated manner. Party committees and  leading Party members' groups at all levels must fulfill their principal  responsibility for putting united front work high on their agenda. All  departments and units should better realize the importance of united  front work and join hands to create a powerful synergy. United front  work departments should enhance self-development and exert their  important roles as advisors, organizers, coordinators and supervisors.  Officials of united front work should strive to improve their capacity  for political judgment, thinking, and implementation, master the art of  work and improve methods of work to establish a good image for their  departments and themselves.

Li  stressed while presiding over the meeting that Xi's speech carries  great significance. According to Li, Xi hailed the historic  contributions united front work has made over the past century and its  achievements in the new era, expounded on its new ideas, thoughts and  strategies formed since the 18th CPC National Congress, and analyzed its  historic position in the new era. Li said that Xi also proposed guiding  principles, fundamental tasks, focus of work as well as policies and  measures for improving united front work in the new era, which are of  political, ideological and theoretical significance.

We  should study and digest what Xi said to think and act in line with the  guiding principles of his speech. The Party has established Comrade Xi  Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party  as a whole and defined the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on  Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the significance  of which requires our in-depth understanding, Li said. We should  continue to strengthen our consciousness of the need to maintain  political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership  core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership; enhance  our confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with  Chinese characteristics, and uphold Xi's core position on the CPC  Central Committee and in the Party as a whole as well as the Central  Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. We need  to carry out all our tasks in line with actual conditions, and make  unremitting efforts to build China into a great modern socialist country  that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced,  harmonious, and beautiful, and to realize the Chinese Dream of national  rejuvenation, Li said.

According  to Wang Yang in his concluding remarks, Xi's speech features great  insight and rich connotations, elucidating a series of major theoretical  and practical issues of united front work in the new era. Offering  historic insight as well as theoretical and practical guidance, Xi's  speech is a programmatic document containing the truth of Marxism.

Wang  said that we should take studying and applying the guiding principles  of the meeting as an important political task, deeply understand the  decisive significance of the establishment of both Comrade Xi Jinping's  core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole  and the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese  Characteristics for a New Era, and comprehend General Secretary Xi  Jinping's important thought on united front work in the new era in a  complete, accurate and comprehensive manner. Firmly grasping the  historic position and key missions of the patriotic united front, we  should also revolve around the Party's central tasks on the new journey  in the new era to bring together the strength and will of the people.

Wang  called for concrete efforts that live up to people's expectations and  stronger awareness in political orientation, thinking, and action of the  need to effectively carry out united front work in the new era. It is  imperative to industriously offset our deficiencies, set a good example  in shouldering responsibilities, and use our wits to ably perform our  duties, in a continued effort to maintain and enhance solidarity,  progress, pioneering spirit, and dynamism in the united front. We should  reinforce the Party's leadership over united front work, further  improve the working pattern of building a broad united front, and  proceed from realities to implement the decisions and plans of the Party  Central Committee in a creative manner, in a bid to write a new chapter  in the cause of the united front.

Members  of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, members of the  Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, relevant leading members of  the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, state  councilors, president of the Supreme People's Court, procurator-general  of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and relevant leading members of  the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative  Conference attended the meeting.

Also  present were leading Party and government officials and officials in  charge of united front work from all provinces, autonomous regions,  municipalities and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps  (XPCC), leading officials of Party committees from sub-provincial  cities, relevant leading officials from the central Party and government  departments, people's organizations and the Central Military  Commission, and leading Party officials from the financial institutions,  enterprises and universities under the direct auspices of the central  government, and heads of related research institutes. The meeting was  held in the form of video teleconference, with venues set up in all  provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and the XPCC.