A forum was held in Beijing on November 28 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Marshal Nie Rongzhen (1899-1992), founder of China's defense industry and one of the founders of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Attending the forum were General Cao Gangchuan, member of the Central Military Commission and head of the PLA General Armament Department, Liu Jibin, minister of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, and a group of top Chinese scientists from the military industry.

Speaking highly of Nie's remarkable contributions to the development of the country's defense industry on the occasion, General Cao urged learning from Nie, who put forward the important concept that the development of China's defense technology and armaments must take its own road with Chinese characteristics.

Minister Liu, who also spoke at the forum, said the late marshal created a series of policies and guiding principles that have remained great and are of realistic importance today, and play a guiding role in the development of country's defense technology.

During the forum, military industrial experts recalled Nie's efforts to create a military industry for China and, in particular, to help improve the working and living conditions of the scientists in the 1960s when the country was battered with severe natural disasters.

Nie was born On December 29, 1899 in Jiangjin in Sichuan Province and died on May 14, 1992 in Beijing.

He went to study in France in 1919, became a Communist there in 1922, and was sent to study in the former US in 1924, returning to China the following year.

Beginning in 1927, Nie held a series of important positions in the Communist Party of China (CPC)-led armed forces, and in 1955 became one of the ten PLA officers with the rank of marshal.

Nie became the chief of the country's defense industry in 1956, when he was made a vice premier and, concurrently, minister-in- charge of the science and technology commission and chairman of the science and technology committee of defense.

The late marshal is remembered for his leading role in the development of China's nuclear and space programs.