President Hu Jintao on Friday stressed that the country will continue to carry out reform and opening up, stay committed to pursuing scientific development, and enhance the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. [More about Hu's speech]

President Hu Jintao on Friday stressed that the country will continue to carry out reform and opening up, stay committed to pursuing scientific development, and enhance the socialist system with Chinese characteristics.

Hu, also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the remarks at a grand gathering marking the 90th founding anniversary of the CPC.

"To strike a balance among reform, development, and stability and achieve unity of the three is an important guideline for achieving overall success in China's socialist modernization," Hu said.

He noted "development is critically important, and upholding stability is also a critically important task. Without stability, nothing could be done, and even the achievements already made could be lost."

Hu also underlined the Party's absolute leadership over the army.

"We must adhere to the fundamental principle of the Party exercising absolute leadership over the army and the fundamental purpose of the army as a people's army and cultivate core values for contemporary revolutionary military personnel," he said.

It should comprehensively enhance its capability to accomplish a range of military tasks, and the most important one is to win limited wars under the conditions of IT application, Hu said.

The Party will intensify its efforts to combat corruption, which is crucial in gaining popular support for the Party and ensuring its very survival.

Hu said the Party is soberly aware of the gravity and danger of corruption, and fighting against corruption is "a major political task the Party must attend to at all times."

The Party must demonstrate greater confidence and resolve and take more forceful measures to improve the institutions for punishing and preventing corruption and unswervingly fight corruption.

All the Party members should bear in mind that all people are equal before the law, that no one has the privilege to overstep institutions and that no exception should be made in enforcing institutional safeguards, Hu said.

Despite remarkable achievements, China remains the largest developing country in the world, and development is still the key to solving all the problems in China, Hu said.

In the past 30 plus years of reform and opening up, the CPC has pursued economic development as the top priority, which is the fundamental reason for the marked improvement in China's overall strength, the living standards of the Chinese people and China's international standing.

The CPC must continue to follow the strategic thinking that only development counts and firmly carry out the central task of economic development, and should not waver in the slightest in this pursuit, Hu said.

Hu also stressed the importance of talents and young people for the Party.

It is particularly important for the Party to speed up the training of talented young people, as talent is the most important resource and a strategic resource for a country's development.

"All the comrades in the Party and the whole society should adhere to the major principle of respect for work, knowledge, talent, and creation, imbue themselves with the view that everyone has potential talent to develop," Hu said.

The Party has been representing young people, relying on them and enjoying their support. There are always many energetic young people in the Party, which is an important guarantee for the Party to remain robust and youthful over the past 90 years, Hu said.

Young people represent the future of both China and its people. They also represent the future and hope of the Party. The whole Party must care about young people, listen to what they have to say, encourage their growth, and support their entrepreneurship, Hu said.