The 11th national congress of returned overseas Chinese and their relatives opened in Beijing on Thursday morning.

Leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the state, including Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Han Zheng attended the event and extended their congratulations.

Nearly 1,200 representatives of returned overseas Chinese and their relatives from across the country and nearly 600 overseas Chinese from more than 100 countries attended the congress.

Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a speech on behalf of the CPC Central Committee. He spoke highly of the contributions overseas Chinese and their relatives have made for their motherland, in areas including the country's economic development, poverty alleviation, fighting against the epidemic, opening-up, long-term stabilization and prosperity of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the reunification of the motherland.

He added that he hopes to see these overseas Chinese play more vital roles in pushing for the high-quality development of China.

(Cover: The 11th national congress of returned overseas Chinese and their relatives opens in Beijing, China, August 31, 2023. /Xinhua)