China Daily will continue its mission as a bridge for communication and understanding between China and the world, Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said at the publication's 40th anniversary celebrations on Tuesday.

From its start as an eight-page broadsheet on June 1, 1981, to today's global media conglomerate serving over 350 million people across multiple print and digital platforms, China Daily has not only made its mark in journalism, but has also flourished alongside the country, documenting and celebrating China's journey toward modernity and prosperity, Zhou said.

In a congratulatory letter released last week, President Xi Jinping acknowledged that China Daily has been "playing an important role in telling China's story well, and making its voice heard "over the past 40 years.

Xi also urged the media group to show a "true, multidimensional and panoramic view of China", and better present China's philosophy of development, its progress and achievements.

As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and the country embarks on a new mission toward building a modern socialist country, Zhou said China Daily will fully embody President Xi's call and continue to make a greater contribution to promoting exchanges and communication between China and the world.

For the past four decades, China Daily has analyzed and conveyed the country's policies, recorded its remarkable achievements in modernization and reported on how China's development can contribute to the world.

Zhou said the media group has made publicizing and expounding Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era a core mission, and the Thought will continue to serve as the guiding principle for China Daily's storytelling and coverage of the nation's system, development, and efforts toward building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and other key topics of the new era.

At the same time, China Daily will continue to expand its global outreach and influence with the objective of optimizing the international communications landscape, Zhou said. This includes enhancing the newspaper's global presence, prestige and accessibility and consolidating the leading position of its English-language app and platforms as the provider of Chinese stories and news.

The editor-in-chief said the group will keep building a talented global communications team that is professionally savvy and upholds an impeccable work ethic.

"Only by these means can we voice the progress of the times, write a glorious chapter of our motherland's development and live up to this great era.