国内英语新闻:China honors former vice premier, petro minister

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kang Shi'en, former vice premier and one of the founders of the country's petroleum industry.

Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli attended a gathering to remember Kang, who was born on April 20, 1915, and passed away on April 21, 1995.

Kang served in senior posts in China's major oil fields and later as minister of the petroleum industry and vice premier after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

He was personally involved in founding the Daqiang oilfield, the country's first and largest oilfield, located in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, in the 1960s.

At the gathering, Vice Premier Ma Kai urged people in the industry to carry on Kang's legacy.