People.cn:

We know that memorial halls and martyrs' cemeteries serve as the repositories of the revolutionary legacy of the Party and the country, playing a critical role in fostering unity, and providing guidance in governance and educating the people. Could you please brief us on the latest updates concerning the work of protecting and managing memorial facilities for martyrs and commending martyrs? Thank you.

Li Guiguang:

Memorial halls, martyrs' cemeteries, and other memorial facilities for martyrs are a living history, a vivid teaching material, and, as you mentioned, the 'gene pool' of the revolutionary traditions of the Party and the country. At present, there are over 250,000 memorial facilities for martyrs, including the martyrs' tombs, more than 1,600 specialized protection and management institutions, and over 300 overseas memorial facilities from more than 50 countries. These are all important bases for carrying out programs promoting education on the history of revolution. We have been working on the protection and management of these memorial facilities with care, love, and various other efforts. We have mainly done the following work:

First, we have advanced the upgrading and renovation of memorial facilities for martyrs. We have worked with the National Development and Reform Commission to incorporate the upgrading and renovation projects of memorial facilities for martyrs above the city level into the program to support the social service facilities construction projects in the 14th Five-Year Plan period. We have worked with the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Ministry of Finance to launch a special campaign to renovate, manage, and protect memorial facilities for martyrs at the county level and below. Since the latter part of last year, we have completed renovating and protecting over 200,000 memorial facilities for martyrs. At the same time, we have continued to optimize the exhibition and interpretative content of memorial halls, adding new research results of historical documents that embody the spirit of the current times to continuously strengthen the foundation for publicity and education on the history of revolution. 

Second, we have given play to the role of memorial facilities for martyrs in education on the history of the revolution. This year, we are organizing the third national competition for narrators in memorial facilities for heroes and martyrs with the theme of "Studying Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and Paying Tribute to Heroes and Martyrs" and promote the heroic deeds at different stages of China's revolution, development, and reform, leading the whole of society to jointly follow the footprints of General Secretary Xi Jinping to visit 'red sites' and understand his deep love and respect for heroes. At the same time, the institutions responsible for protecting memorial facilities for martyrs have continued to adopt detailed supporting measures and optimize services such as services for families of martyrs who travel to the burial place of martyrs to perform tomb sweeping rituals, tomb-sweeping services for those who are not able to visit the cemetery in person, as well as online tomb-sweeping services, and continued to promote patriotic publicity and education. We have carried out publicity and education activities to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the implementation of the Law on Protection of Heroes and Martyrs and actively encouraged people from all sectors of society to go to nearby martyrs' cemeteries during important festivals and holidays, such as the Qingming Festival and the Martyrs' Day, to honor and pay tribute to martyrs.

Third, we have strengthened the management and protection of overseas memorial facilities for martyrs. In August last year, we formed a delegation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to visit Zambia and hold a commissioning ceremony for the Tanzania Zambia Railway Memorial Park attended by Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. In June this year, we organized a delegation to visit Laos and Myanmar to hold a commissioning ceremony for the memorial facilities for Chinese martyrs. With all these efforts, we have worked to foster a strong atmosphere of honoring martyrs and paying tribute to heroes and raised a profound love for the country from the people both at home and abroad.

Next, we will continue to advance our work in this regard and give better play to the role of memorial facilities for martyrs in commending martyrs and educating young people. Thank you!