Table tennis player gets a letter from president

President Xi Jinping encouraged youths from China and Papua New Guinea to make positive contributions to intensifying the two nation's friendly relations in his reply to a letter from a young table tennis player from the Pacific island country.

Xi recalled his visit to Papua New Guinea last year in the letter, which was dated Sept 19 and made public on Sunday, to Geoffrey Loi, a 19-year-old player. During that visit, Xi watched the training exercises that Loi and his teammates performed with their Chinese coach.

He congratulated Loi and his team on their performance in the Pacific Games, hosted by Samoa in July, and expressed hope for even better scores in the future.

Backed by the Chinese Table Tennis College of Shanghai University of Sport, the Papua New Guinea team won two silver medals at the Games, its best performance to date.

In his letter to Xi, Loi thanked him for supporting the development of table tennis in the Pacific nation. Loi told Xi that he loves Chinese culture and hoped for an even better future for bilateral ties.