BEIJING -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Thursday called for cherishing the memory of veteran revolutionaries and revolutionary martyrs.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC.

Xi said Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun and other veteran revolutionaries had contributed greatly to China's revolution, construction, and reform, and to the founding, consolidation, and development of the CPC.

He also paid tribute to revolutionary martyrs who bravely laid down their lives to establish, defend and develop the People's Republic; people who dedicated their lives to China's reform, opening up, and socialist modernization; and those who fought tenaciously for China's national independence and liberation of the people in modern times.

Their great contributions will be immortalized in the annals of history and their noble spirit will live on forever in the hearts of the Chinese people, Xi said.