Beijing, October 18 (RHC)-- The 19th Chinese Communist Party National Congress got underway in Beijing Wednesday.

Speaking at the opening, Chinese President Xi Jinping laid out his vision for an increasingly prosperous China, calling for the Party to safeguard its sovereignty and pledging to become a modern socialist "strong power".

He also urged the party to encourage stronger social and economic development to better address the challenges the country faces.

"Through a long period of hard work, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, this is a new historical direction in our country's development," he said.

Xi addressed more than 2,000 delegates in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.  In his report to the Congress, Xi promised China would be fully engaged with the world.

"No country can alone address the many challenges facing mankind; no country can afford to retreat into self-isolation," he stressed.

 Xi said he envisioned China developing into a "basically" modernized socialist country by 2035, becoming one of the world's most innovative countries with the income gap between urban and rural residents significantly reduced, and its environmental woes fundamentally eliminated.

By 2050, he said he believed China would become a modern socialist "strong power" with leading influence on the world stage.