5. We must select more cadres who combine ability and political integrity and who are in the prime of life and appoint them to leading posts at all levels.

Insofar as experience in struggle is concerned, it may be said that our Party's cadres belong to three or four generations, which shows that ours is a long-standing and well-established cause. It is indeed fortunate that our leading cadres at all fronts are largely veterans who have been tempered in prolonged revolutionary struggle. If cadres can be called valuable Party assets, then these numerous senior comrades are most valuable.

But the laws of nature cannot be changed and, after all, most of our senior comrades are physically not as strong and active as before. In order to ensure that there is an adequate number of successors to carry on our cause and guarantee continuity in our Party's guidelines and policies, we must devote much of our energy from now on to the selection and training of thousands upon thousands of cadres who combine ability and political integrity and are in their prime and give these comrades the opportunity to take part in leadership in various fields so that they may be better and more effectively tempered through practice. It is now a pressing strategic task facing the whole Party to build up a large contingent of revolutionary. well-educated, professionally competent and younger cadres.

The older comrades have an especially significant role to play in fulfilling this strategic task. Comrades Ye Jianying, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun and Li Xiannian have said more than once that although the old comrades may be pardoned for other mistakes, they would be committing an unforgivable historical error if they did not redouble their efforts to train younger successors. The old comrades should work personally with the organizational departments of the Party and the masses in the selection and training of younger cadres and eagerly and enthusiastically guide them to front-line posts of leadership. At the same time, they should free themselves from the onerous pressure of day-to-day work and advance their views and judgments on key and long-range problems. The Central Committee of the Party earnestly hopes that all veteran Party comrades will have the depth of insight and foresight to discharge this crucial historic responsibility to the best of their ability. Meanwhile, it hopes that Party organizations at all levels and all comrades in their prime who have been selected for higher posts will respect and take good care of our veterans and learn as much as possible from them.

At present. we are facing the major task of learning anew. It is the hope of the Central Committee of the Party that all Party comrades and the younger comrades in particular will brace up, strengthen their Party spirit, enhance their political consciousness, set stricter demands on themselves, diligently study Marxist-Leninist works and works by Mao Zedong and the history of the Party, our nation and the world, acquire more theoretical and practical knowledge, and learn more about management and technology as required by their own occupations and specific jobs. The results of our study will determine the quality of our leadership and work and will have a direct bearing on the progress of the socialist modernization of our country. Since we have successfully learnt to destroy the old world, we can surely learn even more successfully how to build a new one.