BEIJING, July 1 (INP): China on Sunday marked the 97th anniversary of the CPC that has emerged World largest political party, representing the people from the gross-root-level President Xi Jinping who is also general secretary of the party on the occasion vowed to make the CPC a strong political force to serve the masses. He stressed the importance of the Party's political building to march from victory to victory, CPC membership and Party organizations increased by 117,000 and 53,000 from 2016 respectively. The Party's vigor and vitality have been strengthened. The growth rate of CPC membership has remained under 1.5 percent since 2013, when the Party implemented a recruitment rule that stresses the quality of members. According to the party's sources, in 2017, the CPC recruited 1.98 million new members, 71,000 more than 2016, including 1 million members working in front-line production roles, accounting for 50.8 percent of all new members. Among those new members, 860,000 held junior college degrees or above, accounting for 43.4 percent, and 1.61 million were aged 35 or younger, accounting for 81.4 percent. At the end 2017, the Party had nearly 43.29 million members holding junior college degrees or above, accounting for 48.3 percent of the total membership. It had nearly 23.89 million female members, accounting for 26.7 percent. More than 6.51 million members were from ethnic minority groups, making up 7.3 percent of total membership. Among secretaries of the Party's village committees, 545,000 held junior college degrees or above, accounting for 17.4 percent. The coverage of Party organizations in Party and government bodies reached 99.7 percent, 95.2 percent in public institutions and 92.8 percent in state-owned enterprises. Nearly 1.88 million non-public enterprises have set up Party organizations, according to the department. While presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, President Xi said they conducted the group study in order to deepen understanding of the Party's political building and become more conscious and firm in promoting it to celebrate the 97th anniversary of the founding of CPC, Xi said. He noted the progress in this regard since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012. Political direction is the top priority concerning the survival and development of the Party, and it determines the future of the Party and the cause, Xi said. The political direction is the ideal of Communism and the shared ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the two centenary goals, as well as the Party's basic theory, line, and policy, he said. The defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the CPC. The greatest strength of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the CPC. The Party is the highest force for political leadership, Xi said. He stressed upholding the authority and the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee as essential to adhering to the Party's political leadership. All Party members must be guided to strengthen their consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment, and closely follow the Central Committee in terms of thinking, political orientation, and actions. He called on efforts to win the people's support and pool the wisdom and strength of the people. Long-term efforts must be made to create a sound political ecosystem, he said. "Our Party was born during domestic turmoil and foreign aggression and has grown after enduring hardships and frustrations, and it becomes stronger by overcoming risks and challenges," Xi said, noting the Party has always been ready to protect against potential dangers and risks. He pledged continued efforts to combat corruption so that the Party will never change its nature, Xi said. INP/J/AJ