BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping Tuesday presented medals to recipients of the Medal of the Republic and the national honorary title for their outstanding contributions to the country's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, shook hands with the recipients and expressed his congratulations at a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to commend role models in the country's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

The Medal of the Republic was conferred on renowned respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan.

The national honorary title, "the People's Hero," was conferred on Zhang Boli, a traditional Chinese medicine expert who presided over the research of the COVID-19 treatment scheme combining traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, Zhang Dingyu, head of Wuhan's designated coronavirus-treating Jinyintan Hospital, and Chen Wei, a military medical scientist who made major achievements in COVID-19-related basic research and development of vaccine and protective medicine.

"I would like to sincerely thank the Party and the state for granting this honor to us four medical workers," Zhong said at the meeting. "This represents the full acknowledgement of the healthcare professionals' work by the Party and the state."

Zhong said there should be no relaxation in epidemic response despite the initial victory in China's COVID-19 fight, and pledged to cooperate with colleagues around the country and the world to continue working on tracing virus sources, blocking transmission routes, and developing fast diagnosis, medicines and vaccines.

Xi signed a presidential order on Aug. 11 awarding the four persons after the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress voted to adopt a decision to confer the national medal and honorary title on the four renowned specialists.