China honored ten women as National Exemplary Workers and presented awards to another 500 for their outstanding achievements on Tuesday as the country prepares to celebrate International Women's Day, which falls on March 8.

Gu Xiulian, vice chairwoman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee and president of the All-China Women's Federation, said in Beijing on Tuesday at a conference to mark the upcoming special day that the Chinese women have made great contributions to the country's economic and social development.

Referring to a famous quotation from the late Chairman Mao Zedong, she said that they have been a credit to themselves in "holding up half of the sky."

NPC Standing Committee Vice Chairman Wang Zhaoguo called on the women receiving the awards to set an example for others, maintain their "advanced nature," and "achieve new glory."

Vice Premier Wu Yi, named by Forbes magazine last year as the world's second most powerful woman, was also present for the occasion.

German socialist Klara Zetkin organized the first International Women's Day in 1911, when socialists from Germany, Austria, Denmark and other European countries held strikes and marches. As the annual event developed, it took on the cause of peace as well as women's rights. Today it is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn March 2, 2005)