BEIJING -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee conducted the ninth group study session on forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation on the afternoon of Oct. 27. While presiding over the group study session, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has stressed that to forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, efforts should be made to let the people cultivate the awareness that people from all ethnic groups are in the same community, where they share weal and woe and the same future and stick together through thick and thin, and life and death. We must fully implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and accurately grasp the characteristics of the Party's ethnic work at the new stage, Xi said. The Party's ethnic work and all other initiatives in areas with large ethnic minority populations should focus on forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation. Xi urged efforts to continuously strengthen and improve the Party's work on ethnic affairs, promote ethnic unity and progress in a down-to-earth manner, and promote the high-quality development of the Party's work on ethnic affairs in the new era.

Wang Yanzhong, director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, elaborated on this issue and proposed work suggestions. Members of the Political Bureau attentively heard his elaborations and held discussions.

Xi delivered an important speech after hearing the elaborations and discussions. He pointed out that since ancient times, the people of all ethnic groups in China have jointly created a dazzling Chinese civilization and forged the great Chinese nation. Our Party has always attached great importance to ethnic affairs and ethnic work, and to appropriately addressing the relationships among ethnic groups, Xi said.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the Party has stressed such notions as the big family of the Chinese nation, a community for the Chinese nation, forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, and promoting the building of a community for the Chinese nation, he noted. The Party has made it clear forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation should be the main task for the Party's ethnic work and all other initiatives in areas with large ethnic minority populations. The Party has also further expanded the correct and distinctively Chinese approach to handling ethnic affairs, formed its important thinking on improving and strengthening ethnic work, and opened a new frontier in adapting Marxist ethnicity theories to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. And thus, the Party's work on ethnic affairs has made new historic achievements.

Xi stressed that since the 20th CPC National Congress the Chinese people of all ethnic groups have embarked on a new journey of building China into a great country in all respects and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and the Party's work on ethnic affairs has faced new situations and tasks. He stressed that no ethnic group should be left behind in building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects. He called for greater efforts to promote solidarity of all ethnic groups and strive in unity to gather a mighty strength for building China into a great country and for advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. He urged full realization of common prosperity and development of all ethnic groups, so as to ensure that people of all ethnic groups can share the glory of building China into a great country and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xi pointed out the necessity to foster a complete set of scientific, sound theories for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation. Based on the long history of Chinese nation, we must integrate Marxist ethnicity theories with China's specific realities and its fine traditional culture, he said. The historical and theoretical logic of the development of the Chinese nation must be followed when unraveling the rationale, principle and philosophy on the formation and development of the Chinese nation. Xi urged efforts to optimize discipline setting, consolidate discipline development, accurately grasp the direction of research and deepen research on major basic issues about the community for the Chinese nation so as to accelerate the formation of an independent system of historical data, discourse and theories on the community for the Chinese nation. We need to incentivize the initiative and creativity of experts and researchers, and enhance the cultivation of young scholars by orienting them to the right direction and building platforms and creating opportunities for them, and thus encouraging them to immerse themselves in research and make achievements through hard work and accumulation. Only in this way can they yield original theoretical achievements which are based on the Chinese history, interpret Chinese practice and give answers to China's questions.

Xi emphasized the need to focus on the cultivation of modern Chinese civilization and building a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation. We must adapt to the major development trend of the Chinese nation from the past to the future, from tradition to modernity, and from diversity to unity. We must gain a deep understanding of the prominent characteristics of the Chinese civilization, continuously build a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation at a new historical starting point, and lay a solid spiritual and cultural foundation for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, Xi said. He urged great efforts in strengthening the education of the Party's theories, guidelines, principles and policies among people of all ethnic groups, and enhancing public communication of the history of the CPC, the history of the People's Republic of China, the history of reform and opening up, the history of socialist development and the history of the development of the Chinese nation. We must enhance cohesion and forge the soul of our people with the common ideals and beliefs, and further foster and practise the core socialist values. We should deepen implementation of initiatives for inheriting the revolutionary tradition, vigorously promote our national spirit centered on patriotism and the spirit of our times built upon reform and innovation, so as to increase our sense of identity and pride in the Chinese nation, and inspire people of all ethnic groups to embark on a new journey and make achievements in the new era, Xi said. We should implement the projects of inheriting and developing fine traditional Chinese culture, study and explore its inherent and contemporary values, and promote its creative evolution and innovative development. He called for efforts in developing advanced socialist culture, building and applying a narrative system to present our cultural characteristics, our national spirit and our national image, and continue to enhance the people of all ethnic groups to identify themselves with the Chinese culture. We should make comprehensive efforts to popularize the standard spoken and written Chinese language and the use of unified state-compiled textbooks, so as to facilitate shared psyche and future through communication.

Xi called for efforts to encourage extensive exchanges and interactions among different ethnic groups and advance Chinese modernization through the great unity of the Chinese nation. He said that the process of building China into a strong country and advancing national rejuvenation must be the process of extensive exchanges and interactions among different ethnic groups and the process in which all ethnic groups strive in unity and seek common prosperity and development. We must hold high the banner of the great unity of the Chinese nation and take the promotion of all ethnic groups to work hard together to build a modern socialist country in all respects as an important task for the Party's ethnic work in the new era, Xi said. It is imperative to promote the population mobility and integrated habitation among various ethnic groups, build an interconnected social structure and community environment, create social conditions for people from all ethnic groups to live, study, work and enjoy themselves together and jointly contribute to its development, and to continuously taking initiatives to promote ethnic unity and progress, Xi noted. The immutable goal for the economic and social development of areas with large ethnic minority populations is to improve people's livelihood and rally their support, Xi said. He urged efforts to integrate those areas into the new development pattern and pursue high-quality development and constantly strengthen the capacity and raise the levels of public services provision so as to ensure that the benefits of development are delivered fairly to people from all ethnic groups. We must also uphold and improve the system of regional ethnic autonomy and refine ethnic policies, laws and regulations so as to push for modernization of the governance system and capacity on ethnic affairs.

Xi stressed that we must better tell the stories of the Chinese nation and strive to promote the sense of community for the Chinese nation. It is imperative to greatly promote the history of the Chinese nation, the theory of the community for the Chinese nation, the historic achievements made by the Party's ethnic work in the new era, and the fine vision in which the Chinese nation joins hands with all the world's people in building a community with a shared future for humanity. We must innovate the dissemination methods in ethnicity-related public communication, enrich its contents, enlarge its channels, and better tell the stories of the community for the Chinese nation, Xi said. We must make it clear in public communication that the CPC's leadership and socialist system are the reliable guarantees for the joint development and progress of Chinese people of all ethnic groups, that the Chinese nation is a community of shared future with a strong sense of identity and cohesion, and that the correct and distinctively Chinese approach to handling ethnic affairs entails apparent strengths. We must actively push forward exchanges and interactions among academic circles and non-governmental organizations both at home and abroad.

Xi pointed out that it is the common task of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups in China to firmly forge the strong sense of community of the Chinese nation and promote the high-quality development of the Party's ethnic work in the new era. Party committees and governments at all levels must adhere to the correct and distinctively Chinese approach to handling ethnic affairs, earnestly implement the Party's principles and policies on ethnic work, and promptly study and resolve major problems involving ethnic work in their respective localities and units. He urged leading officials at all levels to thoroughly study and implement the Party's important thought on strengthening and improving ethnic work, heighten their ability to do ethnic work and make due contributions to advancing the cause of ethnic unity and progress.