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. Xi noted that the recipients of the July 1 Medal are everyday people
who are heroes. They come from the people and are deeply rooted in the
people, he said, adding that they are humble, unassuming and dedicated
people. He called on Party members to learn from the deeds and the spirit of the medal recipients. Through their actions they have proved that every Party member can
make accomplishments in the great cause of national rejuvenation as long
as they have firm ideals and beliefs, resolute willpower and steadfast
perseverance, he added. "This is a new era that calls for heroes and will surely give rise to
heroes. If the Communist Party of China always wants to be the vanguard
of the era and the backbone of the nation, its members must be held to
the highest standards," Xi said. He highlighted the need to encourage Party members to always remember
the Party's character and fundamental purpose and its original
inspirations and mission and to fight without complacency and
enduringly. Zhang Guimei, a recipient of the medal and the founder of a high
school that offers free education for girls in a less-developed area in
Yunnan province, said at the ceremony that the medal was a great
encouragement to her. "What we did was merely what many CPC members are doing every day,
and yet the Party and the people have given us such a great honor," she
said, adding that she will continue to devote herself to the cause of
education. Before the award ceremony, Xi and other leaders met recipients of the
titles of outstanding Party members, exemplary Party workers and model
community-level Party organizations from across the country, and had a
group photo taken with them. The meeting to award these titles was held on Monday and was attended
by Wang Huning and Zhao Leji, members of the Standing Committee of the
Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
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