Shen Jilan
Shen Jilan, China's longest-serving national lawmaker, passed away in Shanxi Province in north China on June 28 at the age of 91.
Shen hailed from a remote village in the mountains of Taihang, a revolutionary base of the Communist Party of China in Shanxi. She served in the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, as a deputy since its establishment in 1954.
Shen championed women's labor rights and advocated "equal pay for equal work" for men and women, which was written into the first Constitution of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1954. She also made many valuable proposals on rural development, education and anti-corruption.
She was awarded the Medal of the Republic, the highest state honor, ahead of the 70th founding anniversary of the PRC in 2019.