President Hu Jintao praised 291 'paragons' from the People's Armed Police and the public security police, and demanded they create a stable environment for this autumn's 17th Communist Party Congress and next year's Beijing Olympics.
The 291 officers received awards in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, with Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang chairing the ceremony, according to the Public Security Ministry's website.
Besides Mr Hu, other Politburo Standing Committee members, including Premier Wen Jiabao , Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and security chief Luo Gan , attended the ceremony.
'Maintaining a stable and harmonious society is the honourable task of all the public security organs,' said Mr Hu, in his capacity as chairman of the Central Military Commission. '[You] should endeavour to prepare the way for the opening of the coming 17th party congress.'
China's 1.8 million public security police have been busy dealing with a rising crime rate in cities and the burden of day-to-day police work, leaving the job of maintaining stability in the face of mass incidents such as protests to the armed police.
The People's Armed Police Force was formed in April 1983, and was made up of People's Liberation Army forces on domestic defence duty.