A group of college students attended a meet-and-greet event at the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) in Beijing to mark the start of their summer internship on July 18.

Yang Jianli, deputy party secretary of departments directly under the NHFPC, was on hand to greet the students.

He told internees that central state organs exercise the power of the government and serve as an integral part of the national governance system and modern governance.

"I hope all the interns can make full use of the opportunity here to grasp the priorities of the work," said Yang. He added that the students should practice and work hard to become the backbone of national reform and development.

Yang said that interns must be more active in learning from people, reading and practical work experience.

The event was presided over by Xu Hong, secretary of the NHFPC's Youth League Committee.

The internship is part of the Grand Ziguangge Internship Program, which began in 2014 and aims to provide college students with an opportunity to learn about how central government departments are run.

The program is co-sponsored by the working committee of central government, the central committee of the Communist Youth League and the All-China Students' Federation.

Ten outstanding college students from nine pretentious universities in China, including Tsinghua University and Fudan University, will spend a month in seven NHFPC departments this year.