Xi greets nation on Chinese New Year

BEIJING: President Xi Jinping urged the countrymen that they should continue to work hard, keeping up their glorious standing in the comity of nations.

On the Chinese Lunar New Year, falling on Feb 16, he urged the Chinese people to follow the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held in October 2017.

He also praised the multiple achievements made by the Chinese people in the past year, and called on them to uphold traditional family values at this time of the year in which family reunion carries great significance.

Liu Hao, a senior member of the Chinese Association of Brazil, said one part of Xi's speech where the president said "happiness can only be earned by filling one's life with endeavors" had inspired him.

"I was deeply touched by that," Liu said. "For us living abroad, only by carrying forward the spirit of hard work can we earn a life in a foreign land." Echoing Xi's call to focus on realizing people's aspirations for a better life, Zhang Guoquan, head of the Federation of Associations of the Chinese Community in Rome, said it is high time that people like him strive for the realization of a better life for overseas Chinese, contribute to China's reform and opening-up, and facilitate the development of China-Italy economic and trade relations.