NANNING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Efforts should be made to vigorously promote the spirit of the Long March and inspire members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and people of the country to carry on the fighting spirit of the Long March into the new era, a senior CPC official said Thursday.

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at a ceremony held in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which marked the completion of commemorative facilities for the Battle of the Xiangjiang River during the Long March in the 1930s.

From October 1934 to October 1936, the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army soldiers left their bases and marched through raging rivers, frigid mountains and arid grasslands to break the siege of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) forces and continue to fight the Japanese aggressors. Some of them marched as far as 12,500 km.

Huang called for great efforts to continuously strive for national rejuvenation and forge ahead with powerful thoughts and unwavering ideals and beliefs.

Commemorative facilities should be utilized to help people better understand the history of the Long March and that new China and socialism with Chinese characteristics did not come easy, he added.

Nearly 1,000 people attended the ceremony, including officials from central authorities and Guangxi, representatives of the relatives of Red Army soldiers and martyrs, and people from different walks of life.