Marxism will remain China's guiding light in the coming century, but the country will still learn from new sciences and philosophies, a top Communist Party leader said yesterday.
Li Tieying, a Politburo member and president of the top Academy of Social Sciences think-tank, presided over the opening of an international conference on Marxism in Beijing, pledging that the party would never abandon the ideology.
'Since the day when the Chinese Communist Party was born, we have decided that Marxism would be our only guiding ideology and theoretical foundation,' Mr Li was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
'Now, we are about to enter the 21st century . . . the development of science and technology and the needs of the [modern] society demand us to further enrich Marxism.'
China considers 2001 as the start of the new millennium.
Mr Li stressed that Marxist followers in China should respond to changes in society and absorb ideas from new sciences.