The State Council began its new term with a swearing-in ceremony to uphold the Constitution, with Premier Li Keqiang administering the oath in Beijing on April 16.

Ninety-two new heads of the 42 State Council departments and affiliated agencies, appointed between June 2017 and March, swore to uphold the Constitution, as required by the newly-revised Constitution and a document on organizing the swearing-in ceremony.

Xiao Jie, state councilor and secretary-general of the State Council, declared the beginning of the ceremony, which started at 11 am. Everyone attending the ceremony stood up and sang the national anthem. The leader of the ceremony then placed his left hand upon the Constitution, and took the oath. Others lined up behind him and repeated the oath.

Premier Li then urged everyone to be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; to be committed and perform their duties according to the Constitution; pledge to be diligent, honest and upright; always put development as the first priority, implement new developing ideas, and promote all-round social progress; encourage programs that benefit people, solve people’s difficulties, and make efforts to create new contributions to live up to the expectations of the nation and its people.

Also attending the ceremony were Vice-Premiers Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua and Liu He; State Councilors Wei Fenghe, Wang Yong and Zhao Kezhi. Senior officials from other departments under the State Council also attended the ceremony.