Chinese President Xi Jinping (back, C) talks at a discussion with representatives of model youth to mark the country's Youth Day on Saturday at China Academy of Space Technology in Beijing, capital of China, May 4, 2013. Xi on Saturday called on Chinese young people to contribute to the revitalization of the nation and "hone themselves at grassroots." (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
Chinese President Xi Jinping said he pins his hope on the Chinese youth for innovation and national advancement during dialogues with young representatives on the Youth Day.
Visiting an exhibition on China's space technological progress together with a group of outstanding young people from different circles on Saturday, Xi encouraged them to spare no efforts to master first-rate skills.
The Chinese Youth Day, which falls on May 4 each year, was set to commemorate the beginning of the May 4th Movement in 1919, an anti-imperialist, anti-feudalist movement growing out of student demonstrations.
Xi said his visit was to commemorate the patriotic May 4th Movement and inspire all Chinese including the youth to strive for realizing the "Chinese dream," or the great renewal of the Chinese nation.
The "Chinese dream" is a much-discussed concept that has been brought to prominence by Xi.
Many young people have contributed to China's progress in space science and technology.
According to the exhibition, the teams responsible for the design and production of China's manned spacecraft, Chang'e lunar orbiters and the Beidou navigation satellite system, have an average age of 33, 33 and 35, respectively.
"Space technological capabilities are a major indication of a nation's strength in not only technological but also economic, comprehensive and national defense fronts," Xi told the young.
Xi recalled how he braved difficulties to study when he was young and worked in countryside for seven years, which laid a foundation for his future learning.
"Now the living conditions in China are much better than those decades ago and the young should study and work harder to sharpen skills," he said.
He urged the country's young people to be firm believers of the path, theories and systems of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and to dedicate themselves to the cause of the nation's great rejuvenation.
"Only when you knit your personal dreams together with the great cause of the nation and build the platform of personal efforts on the basis of the country's cause, can your personal dreams be realized," he said.
Xi also delivered a speech Saturday urging the country's young to contribute to realization of the "Chinese dream."
The People's Liberation Army, the Communist Youth League of China and the Ministry of Education, in their separate instructions on Sunday, called for young Chinese to learn the essence of Xi's Saturday speech and contribute to the "Chinese dream."
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