Chinese President Yang Shangkun described the 1911 Revolution as "a great milestone in the modern history of China" which opened a path for ensuing historical developments.

Yang addressed a grand rally in Beijing on October 9 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution.

To save the nation from subjugation, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his comrades took advantage of nationwide mass revolts and launched the democratic revolution which started with the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911.

The revolution toppled Aisin Gioro Pu Yi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) as the last emperor of China. Sun became the first president of the Republic of China.

Though the revolution failed to turn China into a truly independent and deomcratic country, it put an end to 2,000 years of feudal monarchy in China, repulsed the imperialist invaders and promoted democratic ideas among the Chinese people.

The president said no one living today should ever forget the prominent contributions of the Revolution and Sun in rejuvenating the Chinese nation.

He named Dr. Sun as "an outstanding representative of China's bourgeois revolutionaries and a great forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution."

"The Communist Party of China (CPC) has always regarded its own cause as the continuation and development of the 1911 Revolution," Yang noted. He added that over the past 70 years, the CPC has led the people of all nationalities not only in carrying out the causes put forth by Sun Yat-sen and the martyrs of the 1911 Revolution, but also in furthering those causes.

Yang called on the country to focus on economic development and said that the most important task facing the people is modernization.

"All Chinese, irrespective of their social status or party affiliation and bliefs, should unite under the banner of patriotism and sincerely support and promote modernization," he added.

The president stressed that all other work should be subordinate to the central task of economic development.

He attributed the fact that China can stand on its own in the current capricious international environment to the great achievements in economic reform and opening to the outside world. China will follow this road firmly and unswervingly, he said.

"Reform involves risks," he warned, "but we are strong enough to take them. There will be no way out if we falter or go back."

Qu Wu, honorary chairman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (CCRCCK), said the 1911 Revolution was a democratic revolution of historic significance.

He said, "The CCRCCK is a democratic party which works in Dr. Sun Yat-sen's patriotic, revolutionary and aggressive spirit. We have cooperated closely with the CPC for decades. It has been proven that the multi-party cooperation under the CPC leadership and the political consultative system conform with China's actual conditions."

In the town of Wuchang, Hubei Province where the people led in rising against China's last feudal dynasty, a tea party was held to mark the 80th anniversary of the revolution. Yu Yuzhi, 102, who participated in the uprising, presented the party with one of his calligraphic works to express his wishes for revitalizing the country.