Chinese leaders attended a grand gathering in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday morning to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival and extend festival greetings to all Chinese people.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission of CPC, chaired the gathering of 4,000 personages from various circles.

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, Hu conveyed festival greetings to all Chinese people and his thanks to the friends of China in the world.

"I wish you a happy Spring Festival, health and happy family life!" said Hu.

Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year's Day, falls on Jan. 29 this year.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a speech.

Wen said China made great progress in building an affluent society in an all-round way in 2005 and in its modernization drive - the national economy maintained steady and relatively fast growth. Reform and opening up took major steps forward. Development of various social undertakings gathered speed and lives of urban and rural people continued to improve.

He said that as 2006 is the first year of the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010), it is important to work hard this year.

He said the nation will keep accelerating reform and opening up, stepping up innovation, pushing forward readjustment of economic structure and the shift of growth mode and giving priorities to addressing issues concerning the immediate interests of people.

"We will comprehensively strengthen economic, political and cultural construction and the construction of a harmonious society to achieve a good beginning for the 11th Five-Year Plan period," said Wen.

"Looking to the future, we see a very bright future for our motherland," said Wen.

He called on the nation to work hard and take advantage of the sound momentum of development to make new progress in China's modernization drive.

He said Chinese people will join with people of various countries in the world to work for a peaceful and harmonious world.

Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan, who are members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also attended the gathering.

Other participants include leaders of various departments of the central authorities, leading officials of the capital city, representatives of retired senior cadres, leaders of non-Communist parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, people without political affiliations, representatives of ethnic minorities, domestic and foreign experts and scholars, as well as representatives of various circles in the capital city.

The gathering was jointly held by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2006)