Gold, jade statue to mark Mao anniversary
Print Edition
A GOLD and jade statue of Mao Zedong worth more than US$16 million was unveiled yesterday to commemorate New China’s founding father’s 120th anniversary.
The statue, 80 centimeters tall but weighing more than 50 kilograms, was put on display in the southern boom town of Shenzhen, China National Radio reported.
The city was little more than a fishing village a few decades ago, and its booming prosperity epitomizes China’s transformation since the days of Mao’s planned economy.
The figure depicts the founder of the People’s Republic of China reclining in a chair, legs crossed.
A team of 20 artists took eight months to complete the work, which is accented with precious stones and rests on a base of white jade, CNR said.
It did not say who commissioned or paid for the statue.
President Xi Jinping, who has moved to cut back on lavish banquets and other over-indulgences since taking office, told officials in Mao’s home province of Hunan last month that celebrations should be “solemn, simple and pragmatic.”
Hunan Province has spent 15.5 billion yuan on 16 projects linked to the anniversary of Mao’s birth on December 26, according to media reports, including renovating a tourist center and building high-speed railway stations and highways.
After being exhibited in Shenzhen, CNR said the gold statue will be placed in the Mao Zedong Memorial in his birthplace of Shaoshan in Hunan.
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