A Chinese lawmaker, deeply moved by Premier Wen Jiabao's hardworking style, suggested the national legislature make a motion to award him the title of "National Model Worker", the highest honor for Chinese citizens.

Fan Yi, president of the Foreign Languages School of Ningbo University in eastern China's Zhejiang Province, said he clearly remembered Wen's trip to factories, sea ports, construction sites and households in Ningbo on May 1 last year to visit workers.

"The premier was too busy!" said Fan, citing Wen's public appearance since the beginning of this year.

"He went to the quake-hit areas in southwestern Sichuan Province to spend the Chinese Lunar New Year with the local people on Jan. 24 and 25, and arrived in Zurich to begin his European tour two days later."

Shortly after his return, the premier went to cities including Tianjin to learn about economic performances. He also invited 13 ordinary people to his office in Zhongnanhai, the central leadership compound, only to listen to their opinions on the work of the government.

Last Saturday, the premier went on-line chatting with netizens for more than two hours. He was bombarded by more than 300,000 questions on-line, ranging from the widening income gap and corruption to how many hours he sleeps each day.

Fan said "if all civil servants of the country could act as Wen, we would be able to overcome any difficulties in boosting economic development no matter how serious the financial crisis is."

Fan, also deputy chief of the China Zhi Gong Party Zhejiang Provincial Committee, criticized some officials who only seek personal benefits but would always "pass the buck."

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2009)