Deng's writings, Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping (1975-1982), Fundamental Issues in Present-day China (1982-1987) - the updated edition of Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (1982-1984) - and Comrade Deng Xiaoping's Important Speeches (February-July 1987) are widely read both at home and abroad. A revolutionary with more than sixty years' experience, Deng continues to stay at the helm and to give generously of his time and energy where major issues of the Party and the state are involved. At the same time, he makes sure that younger comrades shoulder more responsibilities whenever possible and that he himself in concerned only with those things that require his personal attention. Although he is more than 80 years old, Chinese and foreign visitors are always impressed by his vigorous health and agile mind. Every summer he goes to beaches along the Bohai Gulf or the Yellow Sea to swim and several times a week he plays bridge. He says that he has done all his traveling abroad but that there is one more trip he would like to take: to Hong Kong in 1997, when China resumes its sovereignty over the territory.

Deng Xiaoping had stressed all along that it is of strategic importance to bring younger people into positions of leadership and that the destiny of the Party and the state hinges on this question. He has stood firmly for abolishing permanent tenure in leading posts and has taken the lead in this connection. When new leading bodies were elected at the Party's Thirteenth National Congress and the First Plenary Session of the Thirteenth Central Committee, he withdrew his candidacy for membership in the Central Committee and its Political Bureau, accepting only reappointment as Chairman of the Central Military Commission. However, with his high prestige and profound wisdom he will continue to play a great role in making major policy decisions of the Party and the state.

Through a lifetime of service to the people, Deng Xiaoping has earned the respect and affection of millions of his compatriots.

Editor: Catherine