Chinese leaders extend Spring Festival greetings

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders extended Spring Festival greetings to the people of the country on Saturday as they met more than 2,000 members of the public in Beijing.

Premier Li Keqiang was also present at the event, Xinhua reported.

Li Keqiang delivered a speech at the gathering, greeting all Chinese in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and abroad.

Li also sent condolences to Taiwan compatriots for the strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake that hit Kaohsiung city earlier in the day and left 11 people dead.

Some major natural disasters and public security contingencies in the past year have brought the people's hearts closer together and authorities have put the people's security as top priority all the time, Li said.

"Over the past year, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the General Secretary, China's reform and development has braved the storms and maintained medium-to-high growth despite the sluggish world economy," he said.

The country has kept advancing the structural reforms and created more than 13 million jobs. People's incomes have increased in sync with GDP, according to the premier.

In the new year, development remains the primary task, he said.

While appropriately expanding the aggregate demands, China will strengthen structural reforms, especially the supply-side reform, which are expected to remove hindrances to the development, motivate the creativity of hundreds of millions of people and foster new growth drivers, said Li.

He said the government will spare no efforts to resolve issues bearing on the immediate interests of the people, fighting poverty and bringing them care and opportunities to build fortune.

"All this will serve to deliver to the people a happier life with more secure jobs, greater confidence in the future and a stronger sense of satisfaction," Li said.

He finally urged all people to unite under the CPC leadership and strive for the nation's great rejuvenation.

This year's Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on February 8.