Chinese President stresses familial virtues

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called for efforts to enhance virtue and civility in Chinese families and make them "an important foundation" for national development, progress and social harmony.

People from all walks of life should work for "a new trend toward socialist family values" featuring love for the nation, family and one another, devotion to progress and kindness, and mutual growth and sharing, said Xi when meeting with attendees at a Beijing conference to honor model families across the nation.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said the Chinese nation has always valued the family.

"Traditional family values have been engraved on the minds and melted into the blood of the Chinese people," Xi said.

Describing them as important spiritual power supporting the Chinese nation, Xi said virtue is a precious treasure for promotion of family harmony.

Xi hoped that families would value education and their own familial culture.

Calling families as "cells of society," Xi went on, "a prosperous, strong nation, the great national rejuvenation and the happiness of the people are embodied by the happiness of tens of thousands of families and the better life of hundreds of millions of people."

Only by realizing the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation can the dreams of families come true, Xi added, calling on households, more than 400 million of them, to integrate their love for the family with their love for the nation.

Xi said though family education had many aspects, the most important was in character building, stressing sound moral values should be passed down to children from an early age.

Efforts should be made to "guide children to develop the trait of integrity, help them cultivate beautiful minds and ensure their healthy growth, so that they can be useful to the nation and the people," Xi said.

He called on households to nurture and practise socialist core values, encouraging family members, especially the younger generation to love the Party, the motherland, the people and the Chinese nation.

"Family is not only the dwelling of people's body, but also the home of people's hearts," Xi said.

A family may thrive with a good culture while a bad culture may bring trouble to themselves and to society, Xi said.

He called on all Chinese families to promote fine family culture and sustain the good social ethos.

The president called on leading officials to take the lead in maintaining the family virtues and learning from role models such as Jiao Yulu, Gu Wenchang and Yang Shanzhou.

Leading officials and cadres at all levels should teach their children and families to be law-abiding, frugal and self-reliant, Xi said.

He urged CPC and governmental organizations to cultivate good culture among families and help families in difficulties.

Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also met with the participants and attended the conference.

Liu at the conference stressed the important role of family culture in the country's development, national progress and social harmony, calling for promotion of socialist core values and the understanding of Chinese dream.

Monday's conference was the first of its kind to honor model families selected nationwide. A total of 300 model families won this honor in a selection that highlights patriotism, observation of law, ethics, harmony, honesty, professional spirit, thrift and commitment to public welfare.

Vice Premier Liu Yandong read the decision to honor these model families at the conference. Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the event.