Xi Jinping delivers speech at Spring Festival gathering

BEIJING -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council held a Spring Festival gathering at the Great Hall of the People on the morning of Jan 20. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech and extended Spring Festival greetings to the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.

Xi stressed that the Year of the Tiger, which is about to pass, is a very important year in the development history of the Party and the country. Confronted with the complex and unpredictable international situation and arduous domestic tasks of continuing reform and development and maintaining stability, the entire Party, the military, and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups rose to the challenge and worked together. With their energy, courage and perseverance, they wrote a new chapter in the development of socialist modernization.

Li Keqiang presided over the gathering. Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Han Zheng, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Wang Qishan attended the gathering.

In the banquet hall of the Great Hall of the People, the lights were bright and the atmosphere was warm. People from all walks of life gathered together to welcome the Chinese Lunar New Year.

At about 10 a.m., amid the cheerful music, Xi and other Party and state leaders entered the hall and waved hands and exchanged greetings with all present, prompting warm applause from the whole gathering.