HARBIN - Officials from the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee have congratulated heroic teacher Zhang Lili on becoming a party member and urged all other members to learn from her.

Zhang, who lost her legs in the act of saving two students from an onrushing bus on May 8 in northeast China's Heilongjiang province, joined the CPC on July 1, the Party's 91st founding anniversary.

While visiting Zhang in Harbin on Friday, the officials spoke highly of her self-sacrificing spirit and extended regards to her on behalf of the department.

Zhang, a 29-year-old teacher at the No 19 Middle School in the city of Jiamusi, was crossing a road outside the school's main gate when she saw two students standing in the way of an oncoming bus.

She successfully pushed the students out of harm's way, but was unable to avoid the bus herself.