Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at a gathering to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, Oct. 21, 2016. (Photo/Screenshot from CCTV)
Chinese President Xi Jinping said the Long March was "a great feat in human history," "epic" and a "human miracle".
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks at a gathering on Friday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Long March.
Xi said the Red Army's Long March, full of the spirit of idealism and dedication, was a "human epic composed of will and courage" and "an epic of mankind's unremitting efforts to pursue truth and brightness."
Xi said that during the Long March, Red Army officers and soldiers fought more than 600 battles against the enemies, crossed about a hundred rivers, climbed over 40 steep mountains and trekked over the grassland.
With their strong will, they overcame human physical limits, represented a dramatic episode in world military history and achieved a glorious human miracle, Xi said.
