After celebrating the 90th anniversary of its founding on July 1, the Communist Party of China (CPC) helped foreign diplomats understand the significance of General Secretary Hu Jintao's commemorative speech.

The International Department of the CPC Central Committee held a briefing for foreign diplomats on July 4. [Photo by Lin Liyao]

More than 150 diplomats representing 100 countries attended a briefing on Hu's speech at the CPC's International Department headquarters in Beijing, Monday. Chen Jin, deputy director of the Party Literature Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Jiang Jinquan, director-general of the Party-building bureau of the Policy Research Center of the CPC Central Committee presented their commentary on the speech and helped clarify its importance to the foreign guests.

Jiang said Hu's speech broke new ground with its definitions of a socialist system with Chinese characteristics. The speech defined the system as people's congresses, multiparty cooperation and consultation under the leadership of the CPC, regional ethnic autonomy and community-level self-governance.

Chen said the speech, like all anniversaries and important events held by the CPC, was an opportunity to reflect on the history of the party and plan for the future.

"It's like a car that goes to a petrol station and refuels with oil that is cleaner so it can move forward,"Chen said. "The CPC is also like a car that needs different refueling.

"Following the briefing, Chen and Jiang fielded questions from foreign diplomats regarding the future direction of the CPC, its plans for membership growth, its relationship with new media and intra-party elections.

Addressing the questions, Chen and Jiang tried to help the diplomats understand the Party's positions and actions, emphasizing its efforts to keep with the times.

Many diplomats refused to be named in the story, but said they found the event to be a helpful recap of the speech. They also said they learned a lot from the CPC representatives’ candid responses during the question-and-answer period.

"I think it was an important event to understand the achievements of the Chinese government," said a senior diplomat who attended the briefing. "We understand more clearly the road ahead for the CPC."