A performance celebrating the life of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of the country's modernization drive, was staged Friday night to mark his 100th birthday that falls on Sunday.

Held in the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing, the performance, "Hello, Xiaoping," focused on Deng's contributions to the founding of modern China in 1949 and the country's rapid economic development since the late 1970s.

Top Chinese leaders Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan were among the 6,000 people who attended the performance, which was staged by more than 1,600 actors and actresses.

Born to a rural family in Guang'an County in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Deng led a distinguished life as a revolutionary, military leader and reform-minded official, and passed away in February 1997 aged 92.

The reform and opening-up policy initiated by Deng in the late 1970s has brought unprecedented prosperity to the country, making China one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2004)