Xi Focus Advancing Chinese modernization with hard work perseverance

At the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in east China, national model worker and veteran crane operator Zhu Shijie is working with electrical control engineers to advance the smart, standardized operation of remotely controlled gantry cranes. In 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping met Zhu at the site, encouraging him to make full use of his role as a model worker and help cultivate more like him. Zhu has taken those words to heart.

Dedicated efforts by Zhu and his colleagues have ensured the smooth operation of the port, which handles an average of 3.9 million tonnes of cargo daily. Zhu has also led a team that has trained more than 3,500 workers, helping nurture a new generation of skilled port professionals. Xi has hailed the value of outstanding workers like Zhu as they take on vital responsibilities to drive the country’s overall development.

“Model workers and exemplary individuals are the moral exemplars of the people and the pillars of the nation,” Xi said. This week, 3,024 individuals and organizations were honored for their contributions to major national strategies, projects and priority industries. Recipients range from engineers, technicians, teachers and doctors, to delivery workers.

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Ahead of this year’s International Workers’ Day, which falls on Friday, Xi extended festive greetings to the working people nationwide and called on them to work hard, deliver solid results, and play a leading role in driving high-quality economic and social development. He has called for building a large, highly skilled industrial workforce with strong ideals, technical expertise, a capacity for innovation, and a sense of responsibility and dedication, while also emphasizing workers’ welfare and protections. In recent years, China has continued to expand legal protections and social security coverage for workers, with growing attention to those in new forms of employment such as food delivery couriers and ride-hailing drivers, as well as older workers beyond the standard retirement age. In his greetings to workers this year, Xi reiterated the importance of effectively protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers and addressing their most pressing concerns.

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