Young officials urged to be selfless, put people first

President Xi Jinping has underlined young officials as a vital force in the endeavors of the Communist Party of China and the nation, calling on them to remain true to the Party's original aspiration and founding mission and strive to carry forward the "baton of history".

The instruction made by Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, was delivered on Friday at the opening of a study session at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the Party's highest education institution, attended by young and middle-aged officials.

He noted in the instruction that young officials, as successors to the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, shoulder heavy duties and have vast potential in the nation's new journey.

Xi stressed the importance of being faithful believers and practitioners of the Party's innovative theories, and he also urged the officials to effectively enhance their ability to understand and apply Marxist theory.

Young officials must be models of staying loyal and honest to the Party, strive to improve their capacity for political judgment, thinking and implementation, and strictly follow the Party's political discipline and rules, he said.

They should "speak honestly, act honestly, be honest people, and always maintain a high degree of consistency with the CPC Central Committee", he said.

He encouraged the young officials to be selfless in their commitment to delivering benefits to the people, saying that they should always put the people first, and establish and practice a correct view on how they should evaluate their performance.

It is important to improve the ability to work with the general public, help them solve the issues troubling them most and keep enhancing the people's sense of gain, happiness and security, said the general secretary.

Xi said he hopes that the young officials can work to fulfill their responsibilities, forge ahead with reform and innovation, take on the heaviest burdens, tackle the hardest tasks and handle sensitive issues.

They should keep breaking new ground in facing up to problems and solving difficulties, he added.

He urged the young officials to help promote a healthy political ecosystem, while encouraging them to carry forward the spirit of thorough self-reform, stay frugal and humble, and resolutely oppose formalism and bureaucratism.

The general secretary also stressed the necessity to resolutely oppose privileged thinking and behavior, and always maintain the political integrity of being clean and honest as communists.

Xi called for Party units at various levels to establish a regular mechanism for training and selecting outstanding young officials, including efforts to ensure their strict education, management and supervision.

The goal is to keep cultivating reliable successors capable of undertaking the tasks of building a strong socialist country and achieving national rejuvenation.

The issuing of the instruction is in alignment with Xi's consistent emphasis on the development of the nation's youth and young officials.

Xi, who served as the president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee from November 2007 to December 2012, attaches great importance to the role of the institution in cultivating talent for the Party.

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, spoke at the opening session on Friday.

He encouraged the young officials to regard delivering benefits to the people as their greatest achievement, dive into the grassroots level and the front line and excel in improving the people's well-being.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn