Eleven people were awarded "Integrity Star" medals for their diligence, honesty and perseverance in their respective lines of work in China in 2022. A show featuring their stories was aired on a CCTV channel at 7 p.m. BJT Sunday.

The following are the stories of three "Integrity Stars." 

Vegetable 'first responder'

Zhang Jizhang, chairman of an agricultural company in Beijing, shouldered major responsibilities for supplying quarantined residents with fruit and vegetables during the past three years when China was affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Zhang hailed from a small town in east China's Shandong Province and went to Beijing alone to join the lower rung of the labor market when he was 18. As he worked as a car salesman, he cultivated extensive connections that were later translated into resources for his own business - a vegetable supplier - something he had an advantage in doing as his hometown is a major green producer in China.

During the COVID years, the agricultural business owner was tasked with the job of mobilizing greens for communities that were in imminent need of food. Making the best use of non-local vegetable bases, Zhang assembled emergency truck fleets delivering much-needed farm produce to meet a vast amount of demands in no time. 

Remaining on high alert throughout, Zhang, 52, was always on the front line traversing to where he was most needed. And when his vegetables were wasted during transport, Zhang didn't bat an eye and said "what's important is to have food delivered to those in need."

From teenage girl to leader

The life story of Wang Cairong, general manager of a coal mining company in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is one filled with inspiration and diligence. 

At the age of 14, Wang, then a petite and slender girl, went down to a coal mine to start her 13-year-long experience as a miner. She then began contracting for mining rights when China's reform and opening up was underway. Many of Wang's co-workers benefited from her being a contractor.

Ten years later, Wang responded to a state-led development project that focused on China's poorer northwest region, bringing along a group of indomitable northeasterners to promote growth in a barren, desolate land. "I will stay committed to leading everyone to prosperity," she said.

Virtuous drug store

Dou Bizhen, a drug store owner in Zhanjiang in south China's Guangdong Province, is known for keeping a business that values virtues at the expense of profits. 

Dou's store is located on an island to which products have to be moved from inland, contributing to higher costs induced by transport. But for over 30 years, Dou never raised the price of her drugs arbitrarily, even when she was reminded by her assistants that costs had gone up and when her husband was diagnosed with severe illness. She would even take money out of her own pocket to help locals.

As COVID-19 hit China, Dou sold over 20,000 face masks with prices even lower than those purchased inland. She also donated more than 3,000 masks to COVID-19 workers. "We can suffer losses, but locals' health is a priority."