Xi Focus-Closeup: Learning from others to better ourselves

BEIJING -- In 2017, during a group photograph with attendees of an award ceremony for national ethical role models, President Xi Jinping went out of his way to invite two people, who were supposed to be standing behind him, to take the places next to him on the front row.

The two representatives, scientist Huang Xuhua, then 93, and veteran grassroots official Huang Dafa, then 82, declined at first, but Xi insisted, rearranging the chairs himself. "Please do come. We can make space for you," Xi said.

The custom of celebrating role models within the Communist Party of China (CPC), the world's largest political party, may not be a new practice, yet, Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has gone to great lengths to underscore the importance of respecting and learning from outstanding individuals.

A life-long respect for role models was cultivated at an early age. When Xi was still in school, he read a newspaper article about one such man of worth -- Jiao Yulu.

Jiao was the Party chief of Lankao county of Henan province in Central China in the early 1960s. He led the locals to overcome various hardships in a bid to improve the lives of the residents in the county, which was at the time plagued by sandstorms, saline-alkali land, and floods. He died of liver cancer at the age of 42 in 1964.

"His story has had a very profound influence on me," Xi said.

In 2014, Xi visited a memorial dedicated to Jiao in Henan. When speaking at a symposium with local officials, he told them, "Jiao built a lasting monument in local people's hearts although he only worked in the county for over a year... A question to be pondered is what we can leave for future generations."

People's lives on earth may be limited, Xi has noted, but the precious spiritual wealth of role models is immortal.

Quoting ancient wisdom, Xi has often cited the words of one of China's most respected thinkers, Confucius, to explain why people should emulate the actions of inspiring achievers: "When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them."