China honors deceased poverty fighter, grassroots official

BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- An engineer and a primary-level official have been posthumously awarded the title "Role Model of the Times" for their respective contributions to fighting poverty and building a beautiful countryside.

Their titles were conferred by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Qiu Jun, formerly a department leader at a subordinate company of China National Chemical Engineering Group, voluntarily took a temporary post related to poverty alleviation in the county of Huachi, northwest China's Gansu Province.

By introducing poverty relief projects and promoting industries that suited local conditions, Qiu helped lift Huachi out of poverty. He died of an illness at work in January.

Sun Limei, a former Party official from a village in east China's Fujian Province, devoted 17 years to rural development, boosting the collective economy and resolving issues of public concern. She died in August while working on typhoon fight.

Qiu and Sun were outstanding representatives of CPC members and officials, whose stories have won great respect and praise from society, according to a statement from the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.