Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday praised the achievements of late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, the father of China's modernisation drive, as the country marked the centenary of his birth.
Deng was the "chief architect" of China's economic reform and a statesman driven by the passion he had for his people, Hu told a large audience at a communist party ceremony at the People's Great Hall in the capital.
However, he also applauded Deng's determination to maintain a tight grip on the country in the face of "political upheavals", shown in Deng's decision to authorise the 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square student protests, leading to the deaths of hundreds, or possibly thousands, of people.
China has staged a flurry of nationalistic and party celebrations in the run-up to the centenary, with state-run media dedicating page after page to Deng's achievements.
"The glorious life of Comrade Deng Xiaoping, which struggled continuously for Chinese people, had made indelible contributions towards the leadership of the party," Hu said.
The event was attended by the country's most senior figures, including the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and former premier Zhu Rongji.
Hu recounted how Deng was "wrongly criticised and was stripped of all his posts" during the Cultural Revolution and again when he ran into conflict with the powerful Gang of Four, which Mao Zedong's wife Jiang Qing was part of.
Deng was rehabilitated in 1977 and set about shifting the party's focus to economic reforms and modernisation.
Known for his pragmatic, laissez-faire approach to prosperity, Deng, who died in February 1997 aged 92, launched capitalist-style market reforms in 1978.
Hu praised Deng for his strategy to allow parts of China - mostly the coastal regions - to become rich first through opening up the economy to private and foreign investments.
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