A grand rally to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held in Beijing on Friday morning.

The CPC summarized its educational campaign on maintaining the vanguard character of CPC members, launched in January of 2005, at the rally.

All the nine members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee were in attendance. .

Hu Jintao, who is General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at the rally.

Hu summarized the achievements of the Party over the past 85 years, its successes and issues it now faced. He called on all Party members to maintain their frontline characters and continue to work for the development of the country.

The nation's 70-plus million Party members were urged to fully realize the strategic importance of anti-corruption efforts, to maintain the vanguard character of CPC members and never loose sight of the fight against corruption even for a second.

Hu noted that there remained some prominent problems which didn't reflect the true vanguard character of the CPC. Some Party members didn't stand firmly for their political beliefs, some didn't strictly abide by the Party's disciplines and some grassroots Party organizations remained weak in mechanisms.

Corruption remained rampant in some areas and cases of cadres abusing power for personal gain were frequently reported, Hu observed.

Hu stressed that Party members should attach much importance to and take effective measures to combat corruption. And all Party members should realize that the campaign of maintaining the vanguard character of the Party was a long-term commitment of historic importance.

Hu said the campaign to maintain the vanguard character of CPC members was accompanied by efforts to enhance the Party's administrative capability. The Party would further reform the selection of cadres and make more open to the public the selection process. The choice of cadres should strictly follow the rules and procedures and the public would be permitted to participate in and supervise the cadre selection.

China would prevent or correct the poor judgment of cadres especially difficulties relating to the purchase and sale of power and the general pulling strings to relating to gain promotion, Hu said.

Inner-party supervision of the Party's leadership and cadres should be strengthened, Hu said. He added that the Party should also welcome supervision from the top legislature, government, top advisory body, non-communist parties, legal departments as well as media and the people.

Hu called on all party members, especially cadres, to follow the good tradition of the Party and abide by the socialist morality of the so-called "Ba Rong Ba Chi" (Eight Honors and Disgraces).

"We should bear in mind the good deed that benefits people, step away from greedy desire that harms people and self-consciously resist money worship, pleasure-seeking and out-and-out egoism," he said.

"And we should always serve the people with down-to-earth and effective measures and play a leading role in creating a sound and upright social atmosphere," he added.

In the speech Hu also called on Party members to keep the progressive nature of things moving along because it was the very foundation of the success the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The reason the Party was the recognized force in leading the nation to victory in revolution, construction and reform and why it could always stand firm in international and domestic affairs was that it always represented the development needs of the country's advanced social productive forces, the progressive course of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the majority of the Chinese people, said Hu.

"It's also because the CPC always attaches great importance to maintaining and developing the progressive nature as a Marxist Party," he said.

The 85 years of CPC history was about the pursuit of independence, liberation and prosperity for the Chinese nation along with freedom, democracy and happiness for all, Hu said.

Enormous success had been achieved over the past 85 years by CPC members who'd devoted themselves to modern construction as well as contributed in times of revolution, he said.

Past experience proved that in order to continue with progress the Party had to keep in step with time setting goals and implementing strategies in accordance with the reality of the country and the will of the people, Hu observed.

Meanwhile the interests of the people had to be safeguarded at all times so the Party maintained support and was trusted by the people, Hu said.?

The theories and guidelines of the CPC had to be updated to take into account the reality of the social development and focus its work on the core tasks of different historical phases.

Moreover, to retain the vibrancy of the Party it must strengthen self-construction and self-discipline, said Hu. He noted that a qualified cadre team with a strict structure was the basis for making progress.?

"We must carry forward these experiences in the future Party construction, which are valuable and instructive to further promote its progressive nature," he said.?

At the rally the CPC Central Committee also issued awards to outstanding grass-roots organizations of the Party, outstanding members and those who'd made significant contributions to Party work.

The CPC was founded on July 1, 1921. It has grown from an original small group of just 50 to a Party with more than 70 million members.

China National Radio, China Central Television and China Radio International broadcast the rally lively.

Two major news websites, xinhuanet.com and people.com.cn, also transmitted a real-time webcast of the event.

(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2006)