The elevation of migrant laborers in China's "Model Worker" honors system indicates the need to imbue the honor and the migrant worker class with more respect, say experts.

Seventy-four migrant workers were honored as model workers, or "National Labor Heroes" and "Advanced Workers," at a rally in Beijing Tuesday.

The rally was to honor 2,985 outstanding workers from grass-roots levels and at the forefront of specific industries.

Just 23 migrant workers granted the honor during the last rally in 2005.

The "Model Worker" honor was once regarded as an inspiration to workers nationwide, with recognition of the material and spiritual values they had contributed to society, said Professor Tong Xin, of Peking University's sociology department.

But the gauge of model workers had changed, revealing different understandings of "labor" in different eras, Tong said.

Migrant workers had become a distinctive group since the country's reform and opening-up, said Professor Wang Yukai, of the Chinese Academy of Governance.

The increase in the number of national migrant model workers showed that the importance as well as the rights and interests of the migrant workers were being recognized in China, Wang said.

However, Wang said, the honor had been devalued in modern society.

Model workers were hailed as real heroes in China decades ago, but the title was sometimes ridiculed nowadays when it was used to refer to someone who had done a lot, but been rewarded little.

A considerable share of social wealth was allocated according to capital contributions rather than according to work and labor, Wang said.

The fact that "labor" was increasingly light in China's income distribution system had made workers, including model workers, less respected, Wang said.

Some model workers even had difficulties making ends meet, Wang said.

Nonetheless, the high-profile rally showed that China still valued "labor" and cherished the concept that "labor is honorable," Wang said.

President Hu Jintao and other members of China's central leadership attended the ceremony.

Hu praised the model workers and advanced workers for their "outstanding contributions in pushing forward the country's social and economic advancement."

Hu urged the nation to learn from model workers and care for them.

Working people were the major force accelerating economic restructuring, Hu said.

The government would take "political, economic, social, legal and administrative measures" to protect the interests of labor to boost social equality and justice.