The Communist Party of China (CPC) is again selecting role models from its grassroots chiefs-a practice that was suspended for 20 years-to find exemplars who "serve the people".
Chosen from over 2,800 counties nationwide, 102 county Party chiefs were honored Tuesday for their outstanding work.
When meeting the honored, President Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called on county-level Party secretaries to be loyal to the Party, take initiatives in economic development and serve the people wholeheartedly.
China's government system is classified into five levels: central, provincial, municipal, county and township. The system dates back to the Qin Dynasty, which created a prefecture-county system in 221 BC to govern a unified China. Since then, county governments have played a key role in connecting the grassroots with the upper echelons of the state.
"When counties are governed, the world is in peace," Xi cited an ancient Chinese saying in Tuesday's meeting. "In our Party's organizational structure and the country's regime structure, the county is a key part that links higher and lower levels as well as a significant foundation for economic development, people's livelihoods and social stability."
The CPC last honored the 100 best county Party chiefs in 1995.
According to the president, honoring outstanding county-level Party secretaries aims to set an example for all Party members and officials.
"A county-level Party committee is a frontline headquarters for the CPC's governance, and a Party secretary is the commander in chief," Xi said, acknowledging the huge pressures placed on them.
A county Party chief, or the CPC county-level committee secretary, is usually in charge of almost every aspect of the local government. They often work under great pressure and their decisions directly affect the welfare of local people.
Xi Jinping, once Party chief of Zhengding County, in north China's Hebei Province, in the early 1980s, has a strong understanding of the crucial role a grassroots official can play in advancing reforms and improving local people's lives.
If the country is a net, the 3,000-plus counties are the knots of that net. If those knots become loose, the country will be politically unstable, and vise versa. All administrative orders and regulations are implemented through counties..., where effectiveness will decide the fate of the country, Xi wrote in 1990 in an essay on his experience in Zhengding.
The awards for serving the people are a reminder of Jiao Yulu, who has been held as a role model of grassroots officials for almost half a century.
In 1962, Jiao became Party chief of Lankao County, central China's Henan Province, during a period of desertification and famine. He led local people in dredging the water channels and planting trees, to curb desertification and improve the land.
Exhausted by this work, Jiao died of liver cancer at the age of 42 in 1964. His last wish was to be buried under the dunes of Lankao, where he could watch others continue his work.
Xinhua News Agency reported Jiao's story in 1966. The nation was moved by his commitment to serve the people, and his honest and upright personality.
County party chiefs are shouldering more arduous tasks in carrying out reforms and developing local econonmy. However, some of them are simply doing nothing and a few of them trade power for money, disregarding Pary disciplines and state laws, and wind up in jail.
The awards on Tuesday not only affirms the outstanding work by model county party chiefs, but also is a reflection of the aspiration of common people for the fine tradition of the Party.
