By Xinhua,
Beijing : Chinese leaders led by President Hu Jintao Tuesday marked the 110th birth anniversary of Liu Shaoqi, late president and Communist leader who was prosecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution.
“We have gathered here with deep respect to remember his contribution to the independence and liberation of China, the development of the country and welfare of the people,” said Hu at the ceremony.
Liu worked hard for the cause of Party and people all his life, making great contribution to the revolution and construction of socialism in China, Hu said.
Born in 1898, Liu joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the age of 23 and led several important trade union strikes in the 1920s.
He marched with the Red Army in the Long March (1934-1936) but, in the middle of it, he was sent to north China that was ruled by then Kuomintang government and led the underground resistance to the Japanese invasion.
In 1945, Liu was elected a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and a Central Committee secretary.
When the the communists came to power in 1949, Liu was elected the vice chairman of the central government. He was president from 1959 to 1968 and introduced many pragmatic economic policies.
Liu was removed from all his positions in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution and died in 1969, denounced as a traitor and enemy agent. In 1980, he was rehabilitated.