Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote a letter of congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Daily on Friday. 

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, asked the newspaper to continuously improve its penetration, guidance, influence, and credibility.

The following is the full text:

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Daily. On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), I would like to express my sincere greetings to each staff member and retiree of the newspaper.

As the flagship newspaper of the CPC, the People's Daily has been following the principle of "a newspaper run by politicians" in line with the CPC's spirit over the past 70 years. It works side by side with the Party and the people to help spread the CPC's theories, line, principles and policies and report people's great practices. The newspaper has played a significant role and made glorious achievements in every historical period, ranging from revolution, construction to reform.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, setting on a new journey of building our nation into a strong modern socialist country. The People's Daily should thoroughly study and implement the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, with the aim to fulfill its responsibility and mission as the Party's news outlet. It should also stick to the correct political direction, carry forward tradition, deepen reform and renovation, fortify personnel development, improve reporting and tell China stories well through the building of an "omnimedia" pattern. To play a bigger role in helping achieve the "Two Centenary Goals" and realize the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, the newspaper should also continuously improve its capability of communication and guidance and promote its influence and credibility as well.

Also on Friday, Huang Kunming, member of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, stressed the importance of the newspaper’s duty as the Party’s flagship paper in his remarks. He also called on the People’s Daily to uphold and embody socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era in news reporting.

 Li Baoshan, President of the People’s Daily, said during the past 70 years, the People’s Daily has developed from a newspaper to a modern media group with 780 million users, consisting of more than 10 types of media, including magazines, websites, Weibo account, WeChat account, Chinese and English language apps and over 400 media platforms.