Good Samaritan vote attracts 80 mln netizens

A total of 80 million Chinese netizens voted for "China's Good Samaritans" of the year.

The selection, organized and sponsored by Xinhua News Agency, will choose 10 individuals or groups from 60 candidates, whose deeds have been widely recognized among the country's Internet users, according to a jury panel statement Monday.

Online voting was conducted by netizens through official websites, microblogs and smartphone applications between Dec. 1 and Dec. 20.

According to the statement, the nominees include Luo Yang, head of the production phase of the J-15, who suffered a heart attack and died in hospital at the age of 51 last month. He spent days observing tests of jet landings on China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.

Zhang Lili, a middle school teacher in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, who lost her legs while saving two students from an onrushing bus is also a candidate.

There will now be a procedure for review by the jury panel, which consists of scholars and media representatives, before final decisions.

A ceremony will be held in January where the final laureates of 2012 will be unveiled, the statement said.