BEIJING -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said Thursday that the firm leadership of the CPC must be upheld.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a ceremony held in Beijing to mark the centenary of the Party.

The leadership of the Party is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and constitutes the greatest strength of this system, Xi said.

It is the foundation and lifeblood of the Party and the country, and the crux upon which the interests and wellbeing of all Chinese people depend, he added.