Chinese President Xi Jinping paid homage to late reformist leader Hu Yaobang on Friday during an official high profile ceremony that was attended by the seven most powerful men in the Communist Party of China, according to South China Morning Post.

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Xi's attendance, along with the other six members of the Poliburo Standing Committee, China's highest government office and decision-making body, signifies the importance of the event celebrating Hu's 100th birthday.

Other honored guests include Premier Li Keqiang.

Xi defined Hu as a "time-tested loyal Communist fighter and a great proletarian revolutionist", according to CCTV.

This description is similar to texts written about Hu at his obituary and at his postmortem 90^th birthday celebration in 2005.

Xi revealed that Hu was well-admired by the party for his "firm belief, idealism and his morals." Xi emphasized that party members should follow his example as someone with an unshakeable belief in communism and adherence to party discipline.

Hu was a liberal leader who drove political and economic reform in China in the post-Cultural Revolution period.

28 years ago, Hu was removed from a high ranking position due to the tolerance of the "bourgeois liberalisation."

Hu's death in 1989 initiated the pro-democracy movement of Tiananmen. His name remained 'taboo' in all forms of media for the past few years.

However, political analysts have explained that the official commemoration of Hu served as a boost to strengthen the political leader's good image to facilitate easy implementation of reform and anti-corruption laws.

"They want to utilize Hu to give flavor of reform to its policies," said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a political Scientist at Baptist University.

"Its using Hu to legitimize its own policies but that doesn't mean that they will pushed the policies Hu has pushed for," added Cabestan.

Hu's leadership skills are completely different from President Xi. Hu's was an advocate for citizen rights, while Xi's rule has completely overseen a revival of Maoism, with an escalation of restriction towards government critics.

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