Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Sunday visited an exhibition featuring late Chinese Leader Mao Zedong and his attachment to China's development of literature and art.

Jiang affirmed the success of the exhibition, which he said can well summarize the history of Chinese literature and art movements in the revolutionary era and in the period of the building of socialism.

He said that the exhibition vividly demonstrates the foundation and development of Chairman Mao's ideology on the building of literature and art from 1919 to the 1970s, and reflects the

efforts made by the second and third generations of the Chinese leadership to guide the development of literature and art.

Jiang stopped at an exhibition booth, and studied the 41 versions on display of publications on Mao's speech on literature and art in Yan'an, the revolutionary base in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

He said that the speech summed up China's experience in the development of literature and art in the revolutionary period, and gave a clear guideline for future work in this respect.

The president said that literature and art are important parts of the development of the nation and the Communist Party of China. They are the "torch" to inspire the national aspiration and encourage the people to go forward, he said.

The exhibition, held at the Museum of the Chinese Revolution, contains over 800 of valuable pictures, articles and artworks. It has hosted more than 20,000 visitors since it opened May 20.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2002)