China marks centennial birthday of veteran revolutionary Bo Yibo

BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday commemorated the 100th birthday of Bo Yibo, the late veteran revolutionary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), who held several key posts including vice-premier.

Jia Qinglin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a keynote speech at a commemoration seminar, calling on all Party members to learn from Bo's "perseverance in maintaining Communist faith and revolutionary spirit".

Bo died of illness on Jan. 15, 2007 in Beijing at the age of 99.

"Bo Yibo was an outstanding CPC member, a great Communist, a distinguished proletarian revolutionary and a prominent leader in the Party's economic work," said Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body.

Bo made great contributions to the revolution and the country's construction and reform cause, Jia said.

Born in north China's Shanxi Province on Feb. 6, 1908, Bo joined the CPC at the age of 17. He was an active revolutionary in the north of the country before the founding of New China and his deeds were often praised by the late Mao Zedong.

Bo was a member of the 7th, 8th and 11th CPC Central Committees, an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the 8th CPC Central Committee, vice-premier of the State Council and deputy head of the former CPC Central Advisory Commission.

Bo played a prominent role in China's economic leadership for decades.

His role in aiding economic recovery after the war against Japanese aggression and the civil war was best reflected in his appointments as the first finance minister of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the director of the national construction committee in 1954 and chief of the national economic commission in 1956.

Bo was persecuted and imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s.

With his reputation rehabilitated in 1978, he was appointed a vice-premier of the State Council in 1979.

Bo was a firm supporter of the reform and opening drive advocated by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.

He was appointed as the first deputy head of the State Commission for Restructuring the Economy in 1982. He was actively involved in reforms concerning the introduction of market forces, the redefining of relations between the central and local governments and the establishment of special economic zones.

Bo played an important role in the reform of the CPC's cadre system during his 10-year tenure as the deputy director of the former CPC central advisory commission, which was set up in 1982 and headed by Deng.

In this position, Bo made an important contribution to the abolishment of the life-long tenure of senior leaders, the transition of the Party's leadership from the old to the younger generation and the recruitment of more outstanding young cadres.

Bo devoted much of his time after his retirement to the writing of his memoirs and study of the Party's history. His works include a two-volume memoir that provides rare insights into the policy-making processes of key historic events.

The seminar, presided over by Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan, was held in the capital's Great Hall of the People.