A meeting commending role models in the country's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

China held a meeting Tuesday morning in Beijing to commend role models in the country's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presented medals to recipients of the Medal of the Republic and the national honorary title at the Great Hall of the People. Xi also delivered a speech at the meeting.

Before it started, Xi and other Chinese leaders met with the role models and had a group photo taken with them.

Renowned respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan was awarded the Medal of the Republic, the highest state honor. Zhong identified the SARS virus in 2003 and is currently leading the Chinese government's efforts in the fight against COVID-19.

Three other medical specialists were conferred on the national honorary title, "the People's Hero." The recipients are Zhang Boli, a traditional Chinese medicine expert who presided over the research of the COVID-19 treatment scheme combining traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, Zhang Dingyu, head of Wuhan's designated coronavirus-treating Jinyintan Hospital, and Chen Wei, a military medical scientist who made major achievements in COVID-19-related basic research and development of vaccine and protective medicine.

"Medical workers are the most beautiful angels and the most lovable people in the new era," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a speech after presenting the medals. "Their names and feats will never be forgotten by the nation, the people and history, and will be engraved on the monument of the republic."

Millions of medical workers fought on the frontline against COVID-19 nationwide, including 540,000 in central China's Hubei Province and its capital city Wuhan, the hardest-hit region during the outbreak, said Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

(Source: Xinhua, CGTN)