Looking back over the course of struggle we have traversed in the past six years, we naturally recall two previous instances of historic change during China's democratic revolution led by the Party, namely, the change from the failure of the Northern Expedition (1924-27) to the outbreak of the Agrarian Revolutionary War (1927-37) and the change from the failure of the struggle against the Kuomintang's fifth "encirclement and suppression" campaign to the launching of the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-45). At both junctures, when the Party and the people had suffered heavy losses and the revolution faced grim crises, enemies both at home and abroad concluded that we were doomed to total defeat, and not a few people in our own ranks wavered and grew pessimistic. But the Party was not overwhelmed by the enormous difficulties. Under the leadership of a number of outstanding figures of whom Comrade Mao Zedong was representative, the Party displayed rare revolutionary courage and fortitude, fought on tenaciously, strove creatively to find a revolutionary path suited to China's specific conditions and finally turned the tide, resuscitating the revolutionary cause and bringing about a new situation of victorious advance.

Compared with the two previous ones, the present change has taken place under vastly different historical conditions. Today, our Party is the leading core of nationwide political power and our country has already experienced a long period of socialist revolution and construction. The people are far more powerful than they were in the period of the revolutionary wars. Despite the tremendous damage done to it by the "cultural revolution," the cause of socialism retains its great and invincible vitality. Although we have lost Comrades Mao Ze-dong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi and Zhu De and other veteran proletarian revolutionaries, we still have as the mainstay of our cause many other veteran revolutionaries who fought shoulder to shoulder with them. Moreover, we have as our core force many old comrades who went through the test of revolutionary wars and large numbers of young and middle-aged comrades who have been tempered and have matured since the founding of our People's Republic. Under the leadership of the Central Committee, we have at last succeeded in effecting another historic change, thanks to the arduous efforts of the Party organizations at all levels and the concerted struggle of all Party comrades and millions upon millions of people throughout the country.

Comrades! The great successes we have achieved in the past six years are evident to all. But, instead of resting on our laurels, we must realize that there are still many shortcomings and difficulties and that there is still much to be desired in the work of the Party. We must enhance our revolutionary spirit, plunge into work and strive for new and still greater successes.

The general task of the Communist Party of China in this new historical period is to unite the people of all our nationalities in working hard and self-reliantly to achieve, step by step, the modernization of our industry, agriculture, national defence and science and technology and to make China a culturally advanced and highly democratic socialist country. In the five years from the present Party congress to the next, we should, as this general task and China's actual conditions require, energetically promote the socialist material and spiritual civilization, continue to strengthen socialist democracy and the socialist legal system, earnestly rectify the Party style and consolidate the Party organization and strive to bring about a fundamental turn for the better in the country's financial and economic situation, in the standards of social conduct and in the style of the Party. At the same time, together with all the patriotic people, our compatriots in Taiwan, Xianggang (Hongkong) and Aomen (Macao) and including Chinese nationals residing abroad, we shall pursue the great aim of reunifying the motherland. We shall also join the people of the rest of the world in carrying on the struggle against imperialism and hegemonism in defence of world peace. These are the lofty tasks of creating a new stiuation in all fields that lie before us.