President Xi urges sound values for Chinese youth

BEIJING, May 4 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the country's young people to study diligently, improve moral character, and hone their perspectives and honesty.

Xi made the remarks while visiting the prestigious Peking University on Sunday, China's Youth Day.

Xi extended greetings to Chinese young people of all ethnic groups on behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and stressed that they must follow the core socialist values and promote them throughout society.

Sunday marked the anniversary of the May 4th Movement, a patriotic campaign that began at the university and was launched in 1919 by young Chinese students and intellectuals to fight imperialism and feudalism. It is regarded as a mark of the beginning of the new-democratic revolution in China.

"Pushing forward reform and development and realizing modernization requires the guidance of philosophy, the inspiration of history and the force of literature. Research in these fields should focus on people's spiritual worlds and social realities," Xi told students and staff on the campus.

According to Xi, contemporary academic research should shoulder the social responsibility to help people better understand themselves and the world while strengthening confidence and direction toward progress.