National voluntary service conference held in Beijing

The National Voluntary Service Conference was held in Beijing on April 3 by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress.

The conference calls for building a more advanced voluntary service mechanism, encouraging people to take social responsibilities, improving people’s moral standard, and contributing to the society’s cultural and ethical progress.

This year marks the 55th anniversary since Chairman Mao Zedong called the whole Chinese society to learn from Comrade Lei Feng, a soldier renowned in China for his generosity and altruistic deeds.

The conference stressed the need to promote voluntary service with Lei Feng as a role model and make sure that voluntary work can better serve the country’s targeted poverty relief campaign, the initiative to build a “beautiful China,” as well as the rural vitalization strategy.

In addition, the conference called on authorities to improve management and introduce incentives for consistent and healthy development of voluntary services.

The 100 most outstanding volunteers, volunteering groups, volunteering programs and volunteering service communities in 2017 were also announced during the conference.