A group of people with Dunhuang Academy were bestowed the title of "role model of the times" on Friday in recognition of their outstanding performance in protection and utilization of cultural relics.

The Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee announced the decision in Beijing Friday.

The group, including Chang Shuhong, Duan Wenjie, Fan Jinshi and others, were hailed guardians of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, northwest China, a key cultural heritage site under state-level protection.

For more than 70 years, they have devoted themselves to the protection and restoration of the precious cultural relics of the Mogao Grottoes, to the research and promotion of Dunhuang culture and art, and to the rational development of cultural tourism there, the department said.