BEIJING -- China's Internet users have selected 10 individuals as the 2016 grassroots heroes, or China's "Good Samaritans."

The winners were announced and honored Saturday at an event sponsored by Xinhua News Agency.

He Xinglong, a village doctor who has been working in impoverished villages for 16 years, was among the awarded heroes.

Liu Tianming, a migrant worker from the countryside, has raised over 3.5 million yuan (over $509,246) in the past 16 years, helping over 300 left-behind children and raising the public awareness on charity.

Other heroes include Liu Mei, who has helped over 1,000 children and their parents combat autism over the past 11 years; Jiang Chuanchun, who is devoted to educating drug-addicts in drug rehabilitation centers; Wei Deyou, who has spent over five decades safeguarding the border in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; and Li Jinlong, who saved 17 people in a flood in Bijie city in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

The event, held annually since 2010, is aimed to promote the good deeds of ordinary people and to improve moral awareness in society.