China's Ministry of Veterans Affairs has issued a circular calling on personnel of the veterans affairs system and veterans of the armed forces to carry out activities to better learn from 95-year-old war hero Zhang Fuqing.

Veterans affairs agencies should publicize Zhang's great deeds among former service personnel, including inviting outstanding veterans to attend seminars and other exchange activities, according to the circular.

Zhang was a soldier of the Northwest Field Army, which was one of the main forces of the Chinese People's Liberation Army during the Liberation War. He won the honorary title of "Combat Hero" twice.

In 1955, Zhang retired from the army and chose to work and devote his life to the poverty-stricken mountainous areas in Laifeng, a remote county in central China's Hubei Province.

For more than 60 years, he deliberately kept his past achievements a secret, even from his children. It wasn't until the end of 2018 when authorities were collecting and recording veterans' information that his life story was revealed.

The circular requires veterans affairs agencies at all levels to create a favorable atmosphere for learning from model veterans, and respecting and caring for heroes and other people with great contributions.

Efforts should be made to explore such heroes like Zhang and encourage the veterans affairs system and veterans to contribute to the realization of the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, it said.