First-year primary students stand in the playground on their first day of school, waiting to be led to their classrooms at Beijing Xicheng Experimental School in Xicheng district Tuesday morning. Late August marks the beginning of the autumn semester. Photo: CFP





Students at a primary school in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province were asked to recite core socialist values as part of the city government's efforts to win the title of National Civilized City.

Wu Zebang, a teacher from the Shekou Primary School in Shenzhen's Nanshan district, confirmed with the Global Times on Monday that every student is being required to recite the 24 words of China's core socialist values. Students were also taught relevant policies related to the National Civilized City title.





"Students need to practice core socialist values in class, or during the flag-raising ceremonies and morning exercises. We also conduct examination regularly," said Wu.

To make the socialists core values easier to remember for primary students, the school also created a song, Wu said.

The 24 words of the core socialist values include national prosperity, civility, justice and the rule of law, and individual values of patriotism and dedication.

Wu told the Global Times that other schools in Shenzhen have the same requirement of students. "We take the work of building a National Civilized City very seriously."

National Civilized City is an honor for cities in China that perform well in economic development, political stability and cultural civilization. It also encompasses the civility of citizens and society. The title has been awarded every three years since 2005. Eighty-nine cities received the title in 2017.

Many cities across the nation have rolled out campaigns to win the title of National Civilized City. For example, Jiujiang in East China's Jiangxi Province and Heshan in South China's Guangdong Province asked students, teachers and members of the Communist Party of China to recite the core socialist values in August 2017 and December 2018 respectively, according to media reports.



Core socialist values are an indicator of a National Civilized City, said an article published on the official website of The Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress, which is in charge of the awards selection.