During 2017 Greece and China have organized several events to promote cultural exchange between the two peoples along cooperation in many other areas.[Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping met more than 600 individuals selected for their outstanding work promoting the country's cultural and ethical progress at a ceremony to honor them in Beijing on Friday.

To show his particular concern and respect for two senior attendees who have dedicated their lives to building the nation, Xi took them by the hand and invited them to sit with him for a group picture, a touching moment that triggered great applause.

The remarks Xi made at the conference encouraging them to make new contributions, and his display of respect to them, show the importance attached by China's new leadership with Xi at the core to the building of a modern socialist civilization and sounded a clarion call to advance the cause.

The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation does not mean pursuing economic development alone, but also advancing its cultural development. The balanced development of material and cultural civilizations and their mutual promotion is indispensable to establishing a modern socialist country.

The more than 600 representatives invited to the award ceremony are all role models in their fields and their deeds are an epitome of our times. In the early period of China's reform and opening-up, the Communist Party of China had already established the strategy of attaching importance to the building of both material and spiritual civilizations. Since the Party's 18th National Congress in 2012, the new leadership has offered ideological guidance and intellectual support for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and made historical achievements in this endeavor.

The times have raised new requirements for building the Chinese spirit, strengthening Chinese values and creating a Chinese paradigm that adheres to core socialist values while carrying forward China's traditional culture.

--PEOPLE'S DAILY