Online Reporter
Ambassador Zhou Ding’s Opening Remarks for the Roundtable Discussions Marking the 105th Anniversary of the CPC Founding
Welcome to the Chinese Embassy for today’s round-table discussions to mark the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and to honour the great fraternal relationship between China and Zimbabwe, and between the CPC and ZANU-PF.
Just two days ago, on 1 July 2026, as the CPC’s celebrated the 105th anniversary of its founding, H.E. President E.D. Mnangagwa extended warm congratulations to H.E. President Xi Jinping and spoke highly of the deepening of China-Zimbabwe relations. We are very grateful for his solidarity message. Our sincere gratitude also goes to many Zimbabwean comrades and friends who have joined us in celebrating this milestone by contributing commentaries and sending congratulatory messages.
The fraternal bond linking the CPC and ZANU-PF, and between China and Zimbabwe alike, stretches back more than six decades, forged during Zimbabwe’s arduous liberation struggle. When the people of Zimbabwe fought valiantly for independence and freedom, China under CPC Leadership stood firmly in solidarity with you, providing military training, material supplies and unwavering diplomatic support.
As a classic well-known Shona proverb says: “Ziva kwawakabva, mudzimu weshiri uri mudendere”（不忘来路，飞鸟之魂永栖旧巢，饮水思源）. It means that never forget our origins and always stay mindful of where we came from, for just as a bird’s soul stays with its nest, we will never cast aside or forget the revolutionary kinship built through our shared liberation fight.
This shared heritage is why back in January this year, President Xi Jinping replied to a group of veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. In his reply letter, he voiced profound appreciation for our shared revolutionary ties and expressed his sincere hopes that our time-honoured friendship should be carried forward and further deepened.
Today, we gathered here on this meaningful occasion, to reflect our glorious shared history and pay tribute to the CPC’s 105 year’s journey. This event serves as a platform where we learn from one another on party building and state governance and reinforce our all-weather friendship.
Nearly everyone seated here today have been to China. Some of you have visited China many times. Some might hold a deeper understanding of China than my Embassy colleagues and I myself. I am keen to hear your insightful comments and thoughtful perspectives on the CPC: its core role in driving China’s modernisation and advancing global peace and prosperity. We often speak of China’s two great miracles — sustained rapid economic growth and long-term social stability. China’s remarkable achievements should be largely attributed to the CPC, whose leadership and governance system serve as the fundamental underpinning for every stride China has made. To truly understand China, one must first understand the CPC.
105 years ago, the CPC embarked on its journey. Back in July 1921, 13 delegates representing merely 50 Party members nationwide convened the First National Congress aboard a small boat near Shanghai. Today, the CPC has grown into the world’s largest ruling political party, boasting over 101 million members who unite and lead the 1.4 billion Chinese people forward.
Through 105 years of relentless hard work, the CPC, as a pioneering trailblazer, has guided the Chinese people through countless hardships and successfully forge and stay committed to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Last month, Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building was formally introduced. Its core tenets are encapsulated in the “Fourteen Insistences”, which deliver valuable experience and wisdom for political parties worldwide seeking to strengthen self-development.
The Fourteen Insistences, also referred to as the Fourteen Principles of Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, read as follows:
Uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over all undertakings;
- Advance social transformation by advancing the Party’s self-reform;
- Take political building as the fundamental task of Party building;
- Adhere to a people-centred approach to all work;
- Boost theoretical education and ideological development within the Party;
- Refine a well-structured, fully connected Party organisational system;
- Cultivate a contingent of loyal, upright, responsible high-calibre cadres;
- Nurture talent reserves for national rejuvenation;
- Improve the Party’s work style and maintain flesh-and-blood ties with the public;
- Resolutely combat corruption and purify the political ecosystem within the Party;
- Perfect the institutional framework for the Party’s self-governance;
- Exercise full and rigorous self-governance over the Party in all dimensions;
- Reinforce the political accountability for full and rigorous Party self-governance;
- Leverage Party building to underpin and advance national governance.
Just yesterday, 2nd of July, the Party School of the CPC Central Committee released a concise yet in-depth report titled The Contemporary Features and Global Significance of Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, in which its experts elaborate on each of these 14 core principles. When we have the English version, I’ll be happy share with you.
ZANU-PF is a people-centred revolutionary party with extensive grassroots reach, strict internal discipline and powerful mobilisation capacity. As President Mnangagwa stressed in his address to the ZANU-PF Politburo, ZANU-PF shoulders the mission of governing through regular, structured engagement and delivering transformative results. This vision closely aligns with the CPC’s commitment to full and rigorous Party self-governance and deep grassroots engagement.
Our exchanges on party and state governance deepen year after year. Each year, more than 100 ZANU-PF cadres travel to China or the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Tanzania to attend capacity-building training and professional exchange programmes. Meanwhile, the International Department of the CPC Central Committee sends at least one expert delegation to Zimbabwe annually to deliver special training sessions for ZANU-PF. The CPC is always ready to share its experience in party building, grassroots governance and cadre training. It is my earnest hope that today’s dialogue will enable mutual learning and lift our respective governance capabilities side by side.
I warmly invite every one of you to speak freely. I look forward to your insights and analyses concerning the CPC’s party-building practices, its central role in advancing Chinese modernisation, as well as your proposals to expand future exchanges and deliver win-win cooperation.
Thank you all.
derick.khumalo