Full Text of Speech by Xi Jinping at Tibet's Peaceful Liberation Anniversary Conference

The achievements made in development over the past 60 years are glorious. The experience gained in the course of development is invaluable. These achievements are attributable to the wise decisions and correct leadership by the Party's three generations of central collective leadership with Comrade Mao Zedong, Comrade Deng Xiaoping and Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core respectively and by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as the General Secretary in the successive historical periods of development in Tibet. They have come as a result of the unity and hard work of cadres and people of all ethnic groups in Tibet and the strong support and assistance of people of all ethnic groups across the country.

At this very moment, we cherish a profound memory of the martyrs and heroes who have contributed their youth, wisdom and energy to and even made the ultimate sacrifice for the revolution, development and reform of Tibet and for the defence and development of the borderland of our country. Their tremendous contributions and noble character are recorded in the annals of history.

The extraordinary development of Tibet over the past 60 years points to an irrefutable truth: without the CPC, there would have been no new China, and no new Tibet. As long as we stick to the CPC leadership, the socialist system, the system of regional ethnic autonomy and the development path with Chinese and local Tibetan features, Tibet will enjoy greater prosperity and progress and embrace a brighter future.

Comrades and Friends,

For our country, Tibet serves as an important national security screen. It also constitutes an important ecological security screen, a major base of strategic resources reserve and a major production area of special highland agro-produce. It is home for the preservation of a unique culture of the Chinese nation and a major international tourism destination. To do a good job in Tibet facilitates our efforts to thoroughly apply the Scientific Outlook on Development and build a moderately prosperous society in all respects. It serves the need of sustainable development, and the maintenance of ethnic unity and social stability as well as overall unity and national security of the motherland. To accelerate development and maintain stability in Tibet is the strategic decision and explicit requirement of the central government. It also is the strong aspiration and shared responsibility of cadres and people of all ethnic groups in Tibet.

At the fifth central working conference on Tibet in January last year, all-round arrangements were made to promote leapfrog development and long-term peace and stability in Tibet, charting the course of future work in Tibet. At the meeting commemorating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China on 1 July this year, Comrade Hu Jintao delivered an important speech which took stock of, in a systematic way, the glorious history and basic experience of our Party in the past 90 years and set out the goals and tasks for the Party in the years to come. This important speech is the guiding document we must follow in forging ahead with the great cause of promoting socialism with Chinese characteristics in an all-round way and the great endeavor of building the Party.

It is the ardent hope of the central government that cadres and people of all ethnic groups in Tibet will earnestly study and apply the spirit of Comrade Hu Jintao's important speech on 1 July, thoroughly implement the spirit of the fifth central working conference on Tibet, adhere to the guiding principle of the central government for Tibet-related work, seize historic opportunities, make good use of assistance from across the country, and continue to forge ahead in a hard-working manner. The grand goal is to build a new, socialist Tibet that is united, democratic, prosperous, culturally advanced and harmonious. Efforts must be made to promote leapfrog development and long-term peace and stability, bring about moderate prosperity in all respects by 2020 and deliver a new life of greater happiness for people of all ethnic groups in Tibet.