The State Council held its swearing-in ceremony to uphold the Constitution as Premier Li Keqiang administered the oath in Beijing on July 8.

Twenty-eight new heads of 25 State Council departments and affiliated agencies, appointed between November 2018 and June 2019, swore to uphold the Constitution, as required by two documents that require officials to take an oath to the Constitution.

Xiao Jie, state councilor and secretary-general of the State Council, declared the opening of the ceremony, which started at 11 am. Everyone in attendance stood 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 committed and perform their duties according to the Constitution: fulfill duties, be earnest, responsible, honest and upright; be enthusiastic, practical and diligent; promote a sustainable healthy development of the economy and society and strive for developing a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

Also attending the ceremony were Vice-Premiers Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua and Liu He, as well as State Councilors Wang Yong and Zhao Kezhi. Senior officials from other departments under the State Council also made an appearance.