China’s ruling Communist Party must keep pace with changing circumstances while safeguarding the advances it has made, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday during celebrations for its 105th founding anniversary.

Xi’s Vision for the Party

Xi did not identify specific opportunities or risks in his 40-minute speech at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, but analysts say slower economic growth and demographic decline pose key challenges for the world’s second-largest economy.

China’s development is currently in a period where strategic opportunities, and risks and challenges, coexist, said Xi, its most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. He called for the party to coordinate better to tackle domestic and international issues.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.