A group of top Chinese leaders visited an on-going photo, dossier and relics exhibition in Beijing Thursday to mark late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's 100th birthday, which falls on August 22.

Deng, who died in 1997 at age 92, introduced the reform and opening-up policies in China that paved the way for a market economy.

The visitors included senior Communist Party of China (CPC) and state leaders Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, WuGuanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan.

Sponsored by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Central Cultural and Historical Research Institute, Party History Research Center of the CPC Central Committee, Ministry of Culture, Central Archives, and National Museum of China, the exhibition has collected more than 320 historic photos,50 dossiers and 140 pieces of precious relics. Many of them are open to public for the first time.

The exhibition is held at the National Museum and has attracted more than 70,000 visitors since its opening on Aug. 10.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2004)