BEIJING -- The future belongs to the young people, and the hopes also rest with them, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said on Thursday.

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

Xi said generation after generation of young Chinese people have remained in the vanguard of the drive to rejuvenate the Chinese nation over the past century.

In the new era, the young people should make it their mission to contribute to national rejuvenation and aspire to become more proud, confident, and assured in their identity as Chinese people so that they can live up to the expectations of the times, the Party, and the people, Xi said.