By Zhang Yang, Liu Hongchao, People’s Daily

During the summer vacation, the Liaoshen Campaign Memorial in Jinzhou, northeast China’s Liaoning province, has seen a constant flow of visitors. Hanging quietly on the wall inside the Hall of Martyrs is a time-worn silk banner bearing the words “An Army of Benevolence and Righteousness,” behind which lies a poignant historical tale. 

Behind the banner is a moving story.

During the 1948 Liaoshen Campaign, orchards surrounding Jinzhou were heavy with ripe apples.  Passing through the area, People’s Liberation Army soldiers were exhausted and thirsty, but not a single one picked an apple. The people’s army, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, won the hearts of the people through its strict discipline.

“Here the fighters were conscious that not eating the apples was noble, whereas to eat them would have been ignoble. They knew the apples belonged to the people,” Chinese President Xi Jinping quoted late Chairman Mao Zedong’s comments on the story during an inspection tour to Liaoning in 2022.

Decades later, the tale endures as a powerful symbol of integrity. 

Today, as China deepens its efforts to promote clean governance and institutional accountability, the story is being actively revived to inspire contemporary officials. 

About a 20-minute drive from the Liaoshen Campaign Memorial is the Jinzhou Apple Integrity Education Base, where a sculpture entitled the “People’s Apples” stands out. Inside the special‑themed exhibition hall, docent Sun Yimeng was giving a vivid account, guiding visitors through historical photos and precious cultural relics.

“We take the ‘People’s Apples’ as our underlying theme to convey to every visitor the Communist Party of China’s fine conduct, strict discipline and original aspiration to serve the people, ” said Sun.

“Declining the apples reflects discipline; avoiding even the smallest exploitation of citizens demonstrates dedication to public service. We must carry forward the revolutionary heritage, uphold our revolutionary legacy, foster and put into practice a correct approach to evaluating political performance, exercise power with integrity, and effectively protect and advance the interests of the people,” said Guan Hua, an official with the Jinzhou municipal people’s congress, during a study visit.

Jinzhou has translated this historical lesson into actionable governance. On one front, the city enforces a zero-tolerance stance toward corruption in sectors directly impacting livelihoods, including rural collective assets, healthcare, and education. Targeted campaigns have been launched to root out misconduct that harms ordinary citizens. On another, Jinzhou focuses on “growing apples for the people” by improving the business climate. The local government has institutionalized dialogue with enterprises, established direct policy-delivery channels, and implemented 32 regulatory frameworks to streamline operations and support sustainable growth.

Clean governance, officials stress, is not merely about restraint — it is a foundation for effective public service. To embed accountability into daily operations, inspectors from Jinzhou’s Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection now work alongside staff at the city’s 12345 public service hotline and government service centers. A QR code-based oversight system has been rolled out across all 283 service windows, enabling real-time feedback and monitoring. The results are tangible: government services in Jinzhou have become increasingly standardized and efficient. Over 900 administrative procedures can now be completed on the same day, with many finalized in under two hours.

From a wartime promise of restraint to a modern blueprint for transparent administration, the “People’s Apples” story continues to remind officials that true authority flows from serving the people with integrity.

“The tests of the times keep evolving, yet our original aspiration to serve the people remains unchanging,” said Zhao Yu, an official with the Jinzhou municipal commission for discipline inspection. “We unswervingly uphold rigorous discipline, nurture a sound and upright political climate to edify the public and bolster high-quality development. We must never take the people’s apples.”

By Yang Wenming, Bai Guangdi, Su Bin, People’s Daily

Integrity has long been a cornerstone of Chinese cultural tradition. Throughout the more than 100-year history of the Communist Party of China (CPC), a commitment to integrity, public service, and serving the people has remained a defining part of its endeavors. 

In recent years, local governments across China have increasingly turned to digital tools to strengthen integrity education. By consolidating resources and designing interactive online platforms, authorities are helping anti-corruption and ethical governance principles take deeper root among both civil servants and the general public.

Not long ago, Chen Zhaomeng, an official with the Zhujie subdistrict in Qilin district, Qujing, southwest China’s Yunnan province, needed to organize an integrity education activity for her Party branch. Using a mobile mini-program called “Map of Integrity in Yunnan,” she quickly found a suitable venue in Shizong county, about a 90-minute drive from Qilin district, and booked a visit to the former residence of Dou Xu in Zhuji township.

The former residence of Dou Xu is a traditional courtyard compound. Dou Xu was an upright and incorruptible official during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) who strictly enforced the law and handled cases impartially. Stories of his integrity have been passed down among local people. 

Guided by an exhibition docent, the group toured the former residence in an orderly manner and learned about the virtues of Dou Xu’s good family tradition.

To facilitate integrity education at the grassroots level, the Yunnan provincial commission for discipline inspection launched the “Map of Integrity in Yunnan” mini-program. It provides detailed information on venues and facilities dedicated to integrity culture across the province. 

Historical stories associated with each integrity education base are brought to life through short videos, while map navigation, recommended routes, opening hours, and reservation information are also provided.

Yunnan’s initiative reflects a broader national trend. Similar digital platforms have been rolled out in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, and Guiyang, Guizhou province.

In Lianyungang, municipal disciplinary authorities have linked 16 distinct integrity education sites into a unified network, establishing a citywide “Integrity and Clean Governance Map.”

Meanwhile, Guiyang’s disciplinary commission has catalogued local heritage sites related to ethical governance and launched the “Guiyang Integrity Map” via the city’s official website and WeChat channel. The platform organizes provincial, municipal, county, and community-level education centers into a single searchable interface, offering practical guides and essential visiting information for officials and citizens alike.

Launching these digital platforms is only the beginning; their real value lies in how they are activated. The Lianyungang municipal commission for discipline inspection has worked with local publicity authorities, universities and other institutions to transform these mapped sites into key hubs for civil servant training, thematic party-building activities, and cautionary case studies.

At the same time, the city has expanded the reach and influence of the map by producing a series of short videos, developing online virtual reality exhibition halls and designing high-quality learning routes. Since its launch, the platform has attracted more than 200,000 Party members, officials and members of the public for visits and study.

By Huan Yuping, People’s Daily

This year marks the 55th anniversary of the restoration of the People’s Republic of China’s lawful seat in the United Nations (UN).

Over more than half a century, China has steadily evolved from a participant in the international system into a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order. This journey reflects not only a major country’s growing engagement in global governance, but also how the spirit of the UN Charter has taken root in the modern world.

On Oct. 25, 1971, the 26th session of the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 by an overwhelming majority, deciding to restore all the rights of the People’s Republic of China in the UN and recognizing the representatives of its government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the UN.

In his article “Renewing Multilateralism: China and UN in the 21st Century,” former UN Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee wrote that, 55 years on, this decision endures as a defining milestone in the evolution of the international order.

Over the past 55 years, China has evolved from embracing international rules to contributing ideas for global governance. Throughout this journey, it has consistently supported the UN, upheld the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and played an active and constructive role within the UN framework. China has advanced the building of a community with a shared future for humanity and made significant contributions to world peace and development.

Stephen Jackson, the UN Resident Coordinator in China, noted that China brings a distinctive perspective from the Global South to the UN, helping to create a more balanced global governance landscape.

China has always been a builder of world peace. Guided by the Chinese nation’s deep-rooted commitment to peace, China has chosen the path of peaceful development, rejecting the traditional route of aggression and expansion taken by major powers. Among the world’s major countries, China has the best track record with respect to peace and security.

China is the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the largest provider of peacekeeping personnel among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. To date, it has dispatched more than 50,000 peacekeepers to 29 UN Security Council-authorized peacekeeping operations.

As conflicts continue to flare around the world, China has worked to promote peace and dialogue. From the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it has pursued approaches to resolving hotspot issues with Chinese characteristics and played a constructive role in easing tensions and resolving disputes.

China has consistently contributed to global development. It achieved the poverty reduction goals set under the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule and contributes around 30 percent of global economic growth.

It is now a major trading partner for more than 160 countries and regions and has signed 24 free trade agreements with 31 countries and regions. The country has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with over 150 countries and 30 international organizations, injecting fresh momentum into global development.

In response to widening global development gaps, China has actively worked to put development back at the center of the international agenda and help developing countries strengthen their capacity for self-sustaining growth, so that the benefits of development can be shared more widely and equitably among people in all countries.

China has always upheld the international order. Over the past 55 years, it has firmly defended the UN-centered international system, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing international relations, founded on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

China advocates and practices true multilateralism and actively leads and advances multilateral cooperation. It is a member of almost all universal intergovernmental organizations and a party to over 600 international conventions and their amendments. It has put forward Chinese solutions in emerging areas such as climate change and AI governance.

China has successively proposed the four major global initiatives and taken the lead in implementing them, contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to addressing deficits in peace, development, security and governance.

The world is undergoing profound change and growing turbulence, while global challenges continue to mount. The international community must build consensus and work in concert to meet the challenges of our time.

We should uphold fairness and justice, and strengthen the foundation of sovereign equality. The international community must firmly oppose hegemonic practices that allow the strong to bully the weak and must never let the world revert to the law of the jungle. International affairs should be discussed and decided by all countries together, and the legitimate concerns of developing countries must be heard and taken seriously. Only in this way can the foundations of the multilateral international order remain firm.

We should uphold fundamental principles while breaking new ground to improve UN governance. Upholding fundamental principles means adhering to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, safeguarding the international system and the basic norms governing international relations established after the end of World War II, and remaining committed to multilateralism.

Innovation means responding to the changing times by enabling the UN to adapt and reform itself, continually improving its internal governance mechanisms, enhancing its effectiveness and better reflecting the concerns of developing countries.

We should shoulder our shared responsibilities and put multilateralism into practice. The more than 190 countries in the world are all aboard the same big boat, bound by a shared destiny. Only by working together can they weather the storms ahead.

All parties should embrace the principle of extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit, explore new approaches to cooperation and develop innovative cooperation models, while continuing to advance multilateralism in response to changing global circumstances, and working together to address global challenges such as climate change, food security and digital governance.

At this new historical juncture, China will continue to be a staunch supporter of the UN and a steadfast practitioner of multilateralism, working hand in hand with other countries to build a community with a shared future for humanity and create a better world for all.