Recipients of July 1 Medal heading to Great Hall of People

Recipients of the July 1 Medal headed to the Great Hall of the People for a special award ceremony in Beijing on Wednesday morning.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will confer the medal, the Party's highest honor, on model CPC members at the ceremony, which is part of the celebrations for the CPC's 105th founding anniversary.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will deliver an important speech at the event, which will begin at 10:00.

Eight people have been chosen to receive the medal this year.

Outstanding Party members, Party workers, and primary-level Party organizations from across the country will also be honored at the gathering.

Established by the CPC Central Committee, the July 1 Medal was first awarded in 2021 to mark the centennial of the founding of the CPC.

The medal, which features red, gold and white as its main colors, adopts key elements such as the Party emblem and the five-pointed star.

European stocks closed higher across the board on Tuesday.

The United Kingdom's FTSE 100 index rose 0.12 percent to close at 10,497.12 points. France's CAC 40 index gained 0.44 percent to finish at 8,403.99 points. Germany's DAX index advanced 1.50 percent to end the session at 24,995.81 points.