Xi hails outstanding Party members

General secretary confers July 1 Medals at grand ceremony

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called upon the whole Party on Tuesday to make persistent efforts to serve the people and forever maintain close ties with the people as he conferred the top honor of the Party on its outstanding members.

In a grand ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People, Xi hailed the 29 recipients of the July 1 Medal, some posthumously, as outstanding representatives of CPC members on all fronts.

They are a vivid example of the noble quality and lofty spirit of CPC members as they firm up their ideals, live up to the Party’s fundamental mission, fight with dedication and serve the people with clean conduct, said Xi, who is also China’s president and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

This is the first time the medal was awarded, as the CPC is set to celebrate its centenary on Thursday.

In his speech, Xi briefly recalled the Party’s history over the past century, during which he said the CPC led the people to blaze a great path, established a great cause, forged a great spirit and accumulated precious experience.

Over the past 100 years, generations of CPC members have worked hard and made selfless contributions in the pursuit of national independence and the liberation of the people, as well as in striving for a prosperous and strong country and the people’s well-being, he said.

To maintain staunch faith is to stay true to the Party’s original aspiration and dedicate everything, even one’s precious life, to the cause of the Party and the people, said Xi.

Xi urged all Party members to regard their faith in Marxism and their belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics as their lifelong pursuit.

He called on all Party members to adhere to a people-centered position and put the people first.

“The greater our cause is, the more challenging it is, and the greater the responsibility we need to assume,” Xi said, urging all Party members to maintain high morale, work diligently, tackle challenges and continue the fine traditions of hard work and plain living, and to put the interests of the people above personal interests.

“Communists can only win the hearts of the people by virtue of their strong personality,” he said.

FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, confers the July 1 Medal, the Party’s highest honor, on Ma Maojie in Beijing on Tuesday. Ma, born in September 1935, helped People’s Liberation Army soldiers cross the Yangtze River in a key battle against Kuomintang forces in April 1949 and contributed to the PLA’s victory in the battle.