BEIJING, Aug. 17 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called for efforts to learn from the innovative spirit of late leader Jiang Zemin.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a grand gathering held in Beijing to mark Jiang's birth centenary.

Addressing the event, Xi hailed Jiang's efforts in continuously advancing innovations in theory, institutions, science and technology, culture, and other fields.

Xi said that by pooling the wisdom of the whole Party, Jiang created the Theory of Three Represents, which has further answered the questions of what socialism is and how to build it, and creatively addressed what kind of Party to build and how to build it.

On the new journey, it is essential to properly respond to the questions facing China, the world, the people and the times, and constantly break new frontiers in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, Xi said.