A gathering to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China is held in Beijing on May 10. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping called for China's young people to continue striving for the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation at a gathering celebrating the centenary of the Communist Youth League of China.

The cause of the Party and the people requires a large group of young pioneers who are selfless, righteous, down-to-earth and loyal to the nation, Xi said.

Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a ceremony held in Beijing on Tuesday marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CYLC.

He added the founding mission of the CYLC, which was established on May 5, 1922, is to unswervingly follow the CPC and strive for the Party and the people.

Summing up the success of the CYLC in the past century, Xi said the organization's firm beliefs and convictions have served as its most fundamental and long-lasting source of cohesion.

"The first National Congress of the CYLC proposed the lofty idea of building a communist society, which injected the strength of faith into the hearts of generations of young people," Xi said.

He also commended the CYLC's devotion to national rejuvenation and its efforts to take deep roots among the country's youth by focusing its work on the overwhelming majority of young workers, farmers and other young people.

"Both history and reality have shown the CYLC is truly the vanguard of China's youth movement," he said.

In the speech, Xi urged the CYLC to remain the strongest bond between the CPC and the youth, saying the greatest strength of the CYLC lies in its broad reach at the grassroots and its deep involvement with young people.

He asked the CYLC to continue serving young people, fulfill its responsibility in consolidating and expanding young people's support for the Party's governance and offer solid help to young people.

Comparing the realization of the Chinese Dream to a relay race, Xi called for the youth in the new era to forge ahead on the journey to realize national rejuvenation.

Xi urged CYLC members to be patriotic and innovative, while not being misguided or intimidated by difficulties.

CYLC members shall also be hardworking and willing to make selfless contributions, said Xi, adding that they should promote virtue, perform good deeds and observe discipline.

In the new era, China's youth have shown no fear of difficulties and hardships in times of crisis, displaying their grit at critical moments.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have been risking their lives to combat the deadly disease. More than 5.5 million of them have worked on the front lines of the combat, according to a white paper on young people released by the State Council Information Office last month.

Of the 28,600 nurses from the medical teams sent to Hubei province, where China's first COVID-19 outbreak occurred, 90 percent were born in the 1980s and 1990s, said the paper.

The country's youth has also become a strong force driving innovation. A large number of world-class young scientists have come to the fore in major sci-tech programs, according to the paper.

The average age of the core members of research groups of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System is 36, and the figure is 30 for the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the world's largest radio telescope.