Chinese President Hu Jintao (4th L) talks with local people during an inspection tour in north China's Shanxi Province July 29, 2005.

The revolutionary spirit remains an incentive for the Chinese nation's development, said Chinese President Hu Jintao, who recently visited historical revolutionary sites where Chinese army and local people fought against Japanese invaders 60 years ago.

During his trip to north China's Shanxi Province, Hu visited a memorial of the Eighth Route Army in Taihang Mountains, a major fighting force under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) against Japanese invaders, to mark the 60th anniversary of China's victory in the War Against Japanese Aggression and the 78th founding anniversary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Aug. 1.

"It's in their arduous struggle against Japanese invaders that the people's army grows," he said, when hearing at an exhibition in the memorial that the Eighth Route Army grew from 400,000 to 1.02 million people in the war.

He also visited the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army in Wangjiayu, Wuxian County, where late leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, Zhu De and Peng Dehuai commanded the army in the war.

While talking with local War veterans, he stressed the national spirit that the Chinese nation demonstrated in the war remains today a great force to push Chinese to march forward.

"We won the War Against Japanese Aggression 60 years ago. But the great national spirit in the war will always be a great force to encourage people to move on," he said.

Hu called on the Chinese to inherit their fine traditions and carry forward the national spirit to strive for building a well-off society and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

He also visited local villages and businesses, urging local people and government officials to seize opportunities to promote socioeconomic development.

Source: Xinhua