President Xi Jinping on Tuesday extended congratulations and greetings to faculty, students and alumni of Renmin University of China as the university marks its 80th anniversary.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in a congratulatory letter conveyed at an event celebrating the anniversary in Beijing.

"The Party and the country are at a crucial stage at present," Xi said.

"Never before have we had such a pressing need for higher education, and never before have we so required scientific knowledge and talent," Xi said.

The president encouraged RUC to use its 80th anniversary as a new starting point in becoming a world-class university with world-class disciplines.

As the first accredited university set up by the CPC, it has always adhered to the leadership of the Party, the guiding status of Marxism, and the mission to serve the Party and the people, Xi said.

Xi spoke highly of the university's achievements in humanities and social sciences and appreciated its efforts to train talent for the country's revolution, construction and reform. He asked the university to carry on these fine traditions and make new contributions to higher education, China's two centenary goals and achieving the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong read Xi's congratulatory letter at Tuesday's celebration.

RUC can be traced to Shaanbei Public School, founded in 1937 in a CPC revolutionary base in Shaanxi province. It became the North China United University, and then North China University. On Oct 3, 1950, it was restructured and renamed Renmin University of China.